Plant closure in Britain since the Great Recession

•This paper investigates plant closure in the UK since the Great Recession.•There has been an exogenous fall in plant closure probability since 2008.•Prior to 2008, TFP was negatively related to closure in almost all sectors.•Since 2008, this association has been weakened or offset entirely in some sectors.

One of the suggested explanations for the UK productivity puzzle is that, since the onset of the Great Recession, low productivity plants that would normally have closed have continued operating. This paper therefore investigates whether there has been a change in the relationship between productivity and closure since the recession. We find that, for a number of sectors, the negative association between TFP and closure that existed prior to the recession has been offset, or even reversed, since the recession.