Why British shipyards failed during the naval building boom

How could British shipyards go bankrupt during the height of the naval construction race?

Britain possessed more heavy shipbuilding capacity than even a major naval program continuously employed, and procurement choices did not distribute orders evenly among yards.

Britain could outbuild its rivals while individual yards still failed for lack of orders. Long investment had created substantial national capacity, and work was distributed unevenly among firms. Churchill's preference for particular yards is identified as an additional pressure on their competitors. Dreadnought and Invincible also reduced the number of large hulls being ordered compared with the preceding battleship and armoured-cruiser programmes. National strength therefore did not guarantee enough work for every shipbuilder.