UK business failure rates show marked improvement

The new Experian Insolvency Index has shown a fall in the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK that have collapsed.

The survey demonstrated the improving health of the UK's smaller businesses, with a 0.55 per cent year-on-year fall in the number of companies becoming insolvent. The fall was even greater among the very small businesses, with the number of failures among those employing three to five people falling by 17.04 per cent and among those employing 26 to 50 people falling by 24.59 per cent.

In terms of where business was improving the most, the Midlands and Wales showed the biggest improvements in the failure figures. The declines of 19.07 per cent in the West Midlands and 17.54 per cent in Wales were only topped by the East Midlands where the numbers fell by an astonishing 36.21 per cent.

Experian's business services manager, Max Firth, said, "With business failure rates and financial strength fluctuating across different regions and sectors, it is especially important that any organisation extending credit to or relying on other businesses for goods and services is able to understand the level of risk associated with their commercial partners."

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