Business Insolvency Figures Fall For Large Firms

The UK’s largest companies experienced a year on year fall in the number of insolvencies during September, according to the latest Insolvency Index from Experian.

 

Only 11 large firms (those employing 501 or more employees) failed in September 2011, 25% fewer than the same period in 2010.

 

Across the entire UK business population, the rate of insolvencies increased. 0.09% of British businesses failed in September, up from 0.08% in September last year. The insolvency rate is calculated by comparing the number of businesses that failed with the total business population in Great Britain.

 

The average financial strength score for UK businesses fell for the seventh consecutive month, to 78.80 in September, compared to 81.05 in September 2010. However, large companies saw their financial strength score improve from 84.63 to 85.87.

 

Micro businesses employing just one or two people experienced the biggest annual rise in insolvencies during September, increasing by 25% to 258. This represented 0.06% of the UK’s total business population.

 

Although the North East of England saw the biggest drop in its failure rate from 0.15% to 0.13%, it remained the region with the highest rate of insolvencies. Scotland maintained the lowest business insolvency rate with 0.07%, while the West Midlands witnessed the biggest rate increase from 0.08% in September 2010 to 0.11% in September 2011.

 

source: Experian Insolvency Index