While there may still be little joy for some businesses based on the high street, elsewhere in the UK economy it seems the corporate insolvency rate is falling substantially.
In analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers based on Q1 2013 corporate insolvency statistics, the business consultancy says 20% fewer company insolvencies were entered into than in the same period of the previous year.
The sequential drop was 1.9% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2012, with 4,613 company insolvencies declared in Q1 2013.
While retail insolvencies continue to grab the headlines, the year-on-year trend here was even more dramatic, with 47% fewer company liquidations in retail in Q1 2013 than a year earlier.
Mike Jervis, business recovery partner at PwC, says: “Corporate failures at such low levels – particularly of administrations – have not been seen since 2005 and before.
“This is in spite of the many high-profile retail casualties that collapsed during the first quarter.”
Administration advice remains an important consideration for any business facing financial difficulty, but with the overall picture improving, this hints at a greater likelihood of corporate recovery, rather than total liquidation, for those who seek advice early.