Recovery here? Insolvency rate static for 12 months & London turns corner

In terms of regional trends, nine of the 11 regions saw their insolvency rate drop year-on-year, with the biggest fall coming from the North East. Even London, which has seen several months of increased insolvency rates, saw a fall, the first since March 2013.

Looking at insolvency rates by company size, the biggest falls were among companies with 51-100 employees. Larger businesses didn’t fare as well, having experienced increasing insolvencies last month, this month the insolvency rate amongst companies with more than 501 employees rose again in August.

Max Firth, Managing Director, Experian Business Information Services, UK&I said: “We haven’t seen such a prolonged period of stability and improvement in insolvencies for a while and the figures signal an increasingly robust business population, which bodes well for growth. What is particularly significant is the biggest fall coming from 51-100 employee companies. It follows on from a strong year-on-year drop in July and will give more confidence to these mid-sized businesses which suffered the most during the recession.

“When times are good and businesses are looking to grow, safeguarding the supply chain through business monitoring is integral. Businesses need to ensure that they are alerted to any potential issues quickly so sufficient steps can be taken to reduce any potential impact on their business.”

Looking at the different parts of the UK, the South West fared particularly well in August, with the lowest insolvency rate of all the regions. Yorkshire was the only region to see a slight increase compared to August 2012. Scotland, which has enjoyed historically low rates for nearly eight months now, saw a very slight rise.