Insolvencies remain too high: Decision makers must support

The official July insolvency figures are out. 1,931 companies across the economy went under just last month.

In our industry, businesses are up against it, with around 1,300 haulage closures alone in three years. Coach and Van operators are feeling it too. The ONS has also reported job vacancies at their lowest in five years, with firms across a range of sectors pointing to rising costs as the reason they are not hiring.

Businesses in our industry are running on tight margins, and costs are landing from every direction - fuel, National Insurance, VED, the HGV levy. Fuel costs remain too high, at about a third of what it costs to run a truck. When diesel jumps 50p a litre, as it did between March and April, that's a £300 a week increase in costs per vehicle. That's unsustainable.

We want decision-makers to listen. We want them to help lower the cost of doing business and keeping jobs in place. We are asking for the same targeted support that operators in Spain, France, Italy and Ireland already get:

An extended fuel duty freeze. An Essential User Rebate. We must also break the link between fuel duty and inflation, so there is no automatic fuel tax rise in April 2027.

We want to continue driving business on Britain's roads. However, the cost of inaction is counted in jobs and businesses, every single week. We will be highlighting these points clearly in the weeks and months ahead, in the run-up to the Budget.