Wales bucks UK trend for rising insolvencies with 12% fall

Figures from Experian show a 12.97% rise in the number of firms failing in the UK compared to October 2010.

However, in Wales there was a 12% decline, with just 44 firms becoming insolvent.

The UK failure rate, which saw 1,847 businesses going through, represented 0.10% of the total business population.

As a percentage of the business population, south-west England was the best performing at (0.06%), while the West Midlands overtook the north-east of England as the worst performing region with an insolvency rate of 0.13%.

In Wales it was 0.08% – a year-on-year improvement of 0.01%

The financial strength score for UK businesses was an average 78.44 in October – a slight deterioration compared to 2010’s 81.

However, large companies saw their financial strength improve from 84.84 last year to 85.81 in October 2011. In Wales, the financial strength score was down on the previous year from 81 to 78.44.

With regard to sectors, businesses in the oil industry continued to have the highest financial strength score at 83.89, while food retailers retained the lowest score at 73.75.

Max Firth, UK and Ireland managing director for business information services at Experian, said: “While 0.10% represents a very small percentage of the UK’s business population failing in October, we are seeing an increase in insolvencies over most sizes of business.

“As a result of this, more and more businesses are now acutely aware of the importance of having a good understanding about the companies they deal with.