What if there is a surge of company restructurings in 2026: The Communications Challenge Ahead

2026 is shaping up to be another demanding year for restructuring practitioners. Businesses across the UK are anxiously awaiting the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, and the signs are far from reassuring.

With sluggish growth, persistent inflation, and a projected fiscal shortfall of up to £50 billion, the Government’s commitment not to raise headline rates for income tax, VAT, National Insurance, or corporation tax leaves it with limited room to manoeuvre. This constraint raises the likelihood of targeted measures that could disproportionately affect labour-intensive sectors such as retail, hospitality, care, and construction — industries already squeezed by earlier increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the National Minimum Wage.

In 2025, company failures hovered near 30-year highs, with monthly insolvency figures consistently exceeding 2,000 cases. Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations (CVLs) dominated the landscape. Another strict budget could trigger a fresh wave of restructurings as businesses seek options before new tax measures take effect in April next year.

But beyond the financial and legal complexities, a surge in restructurings presents a significant communications challenge for companies in impacted sectors.

Insolvency and restructuring are emotionally charged events. For employees, suppliers, customers, and investors, news of a CVL or administration can spark panic, confusion, and reputational damage. The risk is not just to the company in question, but to its entire sector and supply chain. We saw this dynamic play out recently with Jaguar Land Rover, which suffered a major cyberattack that forced operations to shut down. Almost immediately, concerns emerged about supplier cash flow crises stemming from halted orders and delayed payments.

Restructuring can trigger similar fears: if one company goes under, who’s next? If there are multiple happening at the same time, then fears magnify, and the media starts worrying about a snowball effect. In politically sensitive sectors like care homes, or industrial sectors which employ thousands of people in marginal constituencies, the Government and unions are likely to get involved. The narrative can quickly shift from isolated business challenges to systemic risk.

In such an environment, tone and timing are everything. Communications must be clear, empathetic, and forward-looking. Stakeholders need to understand why decisions are being made, what steps are being taken to preserve value, and how they will be affected. Silence or ambiguity can be fatal — fuelling speculation, damaging morale, and eroding trust.

If 2026 does bring a spike in restructurings, media and political scrutiny will intensify. Even financially stable companies may find themselves fielding questions about their resilience and future. The ripple effects of one high-profile failure can quickly spread, prompting broader concerns about sector-wide stability. In more normal times, a restructuring might be an isolated event where the communication challenge is simple. In a more volatile environment, however, the stakes are higher and the margin for error is smaller.

For restructuring professionals, helping clients manage stakeholder messaging — internally and externally — will be critical to preserving reputation and enabling recovery. Communications must be treated not as an afterthought, but as a strategic pillar of the restructuring process.