There are now almost 10,000 fewer finance businesses in the UK compared to 2020, a new report from the Payments Group has revealed.
Figures showed that the number of UK finance businesses peaked in 2020, at 88,875, and has since shrunk quickly having seen a net loss of 9,835 between 2020 and 2024, equating to an 11% decrease.
The Payments Group, a German-based European payments business, has published a new report titled Beyond peak finance, which suggested that the post-COVID UK finance sector is in freefall.
Its data, based on labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), indicated that while the number of banks has decreased since 2020, this is a long-term trend that predates Brexit and the pandemic.
The Payments Group said the decline of high street banks has contributed to the finance industry’s contraction in the UK, but it is not responsible for it – with technology also making some legacy finance industries obsolete.
“The simple truth is that the UK finance industry is declining and there are numerous underlying conditions beyond Brexit, the pandemic and economic recession,” CEO of the Payments Group, Jens Bader, said.
“The Government needs to act to ensure that one of the UK’s strongest sectors does not continue to decline. We cannot allow American card giants and tech brands to run roughshod over UK financial institutions, retailers, and consumers as they are doing today. The impact of an even weaker and even smaller UK finance sector would ripple throughout the entire UK economy.”
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories