West Midlands tops the company failures table
MORE companies went under in the West Midlands in June than in any other part of the country.
As the region awaits the latest unemployment figures this morning, depressing figures from information services firm Experian show that there were 169 insolvencies in June, an 18% increase on the June 2011 total.
Worryingly for the region, the national average was a 6.1% reduction of insolvency numbers on a year on year basis. The North West saw a 11% reduction in the number of failed companies.
The second worst performing areas was Yorkshire with a 10.4% increase in the number of companies becoming insolvent.
More encouragingly, SMEs with one to 100 employees were the only group to see improvements in their insolvency rates, with the biggest rise coming specifically from SMEs with 51 to 100 employees – from 0.19% in June 2011 to 0.12% in June this year.
The UK’s biggest businesses (101 or more employees) experienced an increase in the rate of insolvencies compared to June 2011. Firms with between 101 to 500 employees experienced a 0.16% failure rate, compared to 0.08% in June last year. Firms with more than 500 employees saw an increase in insolvency rate from 0.12% in June last year to 0.15% in June this year.
Max Firth, managing director, Experian Business Information Services, UK&I said: “Although the overall figures for June show a fairly stable environment at the moment led by smaller firms, the higher insolvency rate at the top end of the business world will have an impact on the supply chain.
“Many smaller suppliers, unless they have a good credit management process in place, will find themselves short of a major customer and left with unpaid bills. They will need to move quickly to fill the gap in their customer base.”
Of the UK’s five biggest industries, the leisure/hotel and the building/construction sectors saw the biggest improvements – from May 2012 and also compared to June 2011. For firms in the leisure/hotel sector – this is the third consecutive month of falling insolvencies.
