Insolvencies dip in September

Experian's BusinessIQ Insolvency Index claims the number of firms failing dropped by 3.1 per cent last month

The overall number of firms going bust dropped 3.1 per cent in September, despite the UK economy being mired in one of the longest recessions in the past century.

However, the findings, from the latest BusinessIQ Insolvency Index from Experian, revealed insolvencies in the IT industry had marginally increased by 0.9 per cent when compared with the same period last year, with 77 firms going bust.

In total, 1,679 businesses gave up the ghost during September, or 0.08 per cent of the total UK business population.

Small firms with one to 50 employees were the most robust, seeing the insolvency rate fall from 0.23 per cent to 0.19 per cent, while companies with six to 10 employees saw their insolvency rate fall to 0.13 per cent – the lowest since January 2011.

Poorer performers were larger firms with between 52 and 500 employees, which saw the only year-on-year increase in insolvency rates.

Max Firth, managing director of Experian Business Information Services UK and Ireland, said: “Overall insolvency figures are down and the picture remains stable, which is encouraging. In addition, we have seen real pockets of improvement, such as in the West Midlands and South West, which have both seen a drop of over 30 per cent.

"Also encouraging are the lower rates of insolvencies among some of the small firms. However, in contrast, larger firms experienced a slight increase in insolvencies, which may lead to smaller firms that were supplying to them experiencing a knock-on effect."

In terms of regions, the West Midlands was the star performer, with insolvencies falling to the lowest rate since June 2007. Yorkshire and the South East were the only regions to see an increase in insolvency figures since September 2011.