According to Greg Palfrey of Smith and Williamson, we’ll see waves of insolvency this year as sector by sector, businesses feel the pinch. Government support measures have been a lifeline for millions of UK businesses. As of February 2021, £53.8bn have been claimed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), furloughing 11.2m people. Over 1.5m businesses have received loans worth over £74bn, including future fund loans, business interruption schemes and bounce back loans. But, says Greg Palfrey, Partner and National Head of Restructuring & Recovery Services at Smith & Williamson, while being hugely supportive, these measures have also kept large numbers of struggling businesses artificially afloat, therefore prolonging the inevitable. It’s why we haven’t seen spikes in firms going into insolvency – at least not yet.