Distress trends rise in region
LEVELS of business distress in Yorkshire increased by 17% in the first three months of 2012, the latest findings from Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert report have revealed.
Red Flag found that Yorkshire was the only UK region to experience a growth in business distress in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2011.
The situation in Yorkshire contrasts with the national average of a 17% fall in businesses suffering financial distress.
The survey, which monitors a series of indicators of company distress, found that while ‘critical’ problems in the region fell by 20% in the first quarter of 2012 when compared with the previous year, the less advanced ‘significant’ problems grew by 18% in the same period.
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Across the UK, 154,370 companies showed instances of ‘significant’ or ‘critical’ financial problems according to figures from January, February and March. A total of 13,489 of these are based in Yorkshire.
Julian Pitts, regional managing partner for Begbies Traynor in Yorkshire, said: “Despite disappointing overall figures for Yorkshire, the latest year-on-year results indicate that there has been some progress away from another recession, led by the manufacturing sector.”
Sectors that showed positive results included manufacturing, while property and construction have continued to struggle.
