Business failures spike 56 per cent

But insolvency rate will rise further over the coming month, experts warn

Insolvency Service building

UK corporate insolvencies spiked by more than a half in the first quarter of 2009, Insolvency Service statistics reveal.

Company insolvencies in January, February and March soared 56 per cent on an annual comparison and 7.1 per cent sequentially.

Some 4,941 UK firms hit the wall during the period and experts have warned the worst could be yet to come.

Richard Flemming, KPMG’s UK head of restructuring, said: “The financial sticking plasters which were applied to struggling companies when liquidity was still available are now coming away and lenders are unwilling to reapply them.

“We expect to see the rate of insolvencies gathering pace over the coming months as the Darwinian theory takes effect in the corporate world.”