UK Business Insolvencies Down 30 Percent Year-on-Year in July
Insolvency rates down across all SME segments, but rises for largest firms
Nottingham, 17 August 2010 - The latest Insolvency Index from Experian®, the global information services company, has revealed a year-on-year fall in business insolvencies during July.
1,542 UK businesses failed last month, 33 per cent fewer than the 2,312 insolvencies recorded in July 2009. This equates to an insolvency rate[1] of 0.08 per cent of the business population in July 2009, compared to 0.12 per cent the year before.
At 80.93, the financial strength score[2] of UK businesses in July was marginally higher than the 80.61 recorded in July 2009, and up slightly on June 2010 (80.83). However, it remains down on the 12 month high of 81.37 recorded in December 2009.
All business segments bar the largest companies (501+ employees) saw insolvency rates fall year-on-year, with the biggest improvements being amongst 101 – 500 employee companies. This segment saw 30 insolvencies in July 2010, 56 per cent fewer than in July 2009.
Max Firth, Managing Principal of pH, an Experian company, said: “July’s data indicates that the SME population is faring much better in terms of insolvencies than it did this time last year, however, increasing failures at the top end of the market demonstrates clearly that there is a still a great deal of uncertainty. Given this ever changing picture, it is vital that organisations ensure they understand and proactively manage the risk that those they do business with exposes them to.”
Other key highlights include:
Region |
Insolvencies July 10 |
Insolvencies July 09 |
% of business population failing July 10 |
% of business population failing July 09 |
Financial Strength Score July 10 |
Financial Strength Score July 09 |
Scotland |
54 |
63 |
0.05% |
0.05% |
80.81 |
80.85 |
North East |
35 |
69 |
0.09% |
0.17% |
81.07 |
80.67 |
North West |
163 |
286 |
0.09% |
0.15% |
80.37 |
80.13 |
Yorkshire |
148 |
199 |
0.13% |
0.16% |
81.01 |
79.26 |
Wales |
39 |
77 |
0.07% |
0.14% |
80.52 |
80.24 |
West Midlands |
136 |
228 |
0.09% |
0.15% |
79.96 |
79.71 |
East Midlands |
98 |
170 |
0.09% |
0.16% |
81.27 |
81.02 |
Eastern |
128 |
182 |
0.07% |
0.11% |
81.85 |
81.82 |
South West |
114 |
150 |
0.07% |
0.10% |
82.62 |
82.21 |
Greater London |
402 |
570 |
0.08% |
0.12% |
79.75 |
79.41 |
South East |
225 |
318 |
0.07% |
0.09% |
82.14 |
82.04 |
Grand Total |
1,542 |
2,312 |
0.08% |
0.12% |
80.93 |
80.61 |
Source: pH, an Experian company
Number of employees |
Insolvencies July 10 |
Insolvencies July 09 |
% of business population failing July 10 |
% of business population failing July 09 |
Financial Strength Score July 10 |
Financial Strength Score July 09 |
1-2 |
225 |
273 |
0.05% |
0.07% |
82.11 |
81.31 |
3-5 |
215 |
357 |
0.10% |
0.15% |
81.83 |
82.61 |
6-10 |
216 |
353 |
0.17% |
0.27% |
81.36 |
81.71 |
11-25 |
239 |
319 |
0.24% |
0.31% |
81.00 |
81.49 |
26-50 |
84 |
150 |
0.18% |
0.31% |
80.88 |
81.24 |
51-100 |
41 |
77 |
0.15% |
0.28% |
80.58 |
80.59 |
101-500 |
30 |
68 |
0.11% |
0.26% |
81.81 |
81.69 |
501+ |
16 |
10 |
0.17% |
0.11% |
84.20 |
84.63 |
Unspecified |
476 |
705 |
0.05% |
0.07% |
80.11 |
79.53 |
Grand Total |
1,542 |
2,312 |
0.08% |
0.12% |
80.93 |
80.61 |
Source: pH, an Experian company
Sector |
Insolvencies July 10 |
Insolvencies July 09 |
% of business population failing July 10 |
% of business population failing July 09 |
Financial Strength Score July 10 |
Financial Strength Score July 09 |
Extractive Industries |
3 |
1 |
0.21% |
0.07% |
82.43 |
82.11 |
Oil |
1 |
8 |
0.03% |
0.24% |
85.54 |
85.30 |
Building and Construction |
271 |
382 |
0.16% |
0.23% |
77.39 |
77.79 |
Building Materials |
6 |
10 |
0.16% |
0.27% |
79.41 |
80.34 |
Chemicals Industry |
5 |
3 |
0.18% |
0.10% |
81.31 |
82.20 |
Diversified Industrials |
36 |
50 |
0.17% |
0.22% |
77.66 |
78.74 |
Electricals |
11 |
20 |
0.13% |
0.23% |
79.01 |
79.97 |
Engineering |
57 |
78 |
0.14% |
0.20% |
79.08 |
80.10 |
Printing, Paper and Packaging |
5 |
12 |
0.17% |
0.48% |
77.94 |
79.57 |
Textiles and Clothing |
25 |
52 |
0.18% |
0.37% |
76.34 |
77.50 |
Breweries |
- |
2 |
0.00% |
0.42% |
79.42 |
81.00 |
Spirits, Wine and Tobacco |
- |
- |
0.00% |
0.00% |
82.14 |
81.95 |
Food Manufacturing |
2 |
1 |
0.03% |
0.02% |
77.63 |
78.88 |
Pharmaceuticals |
1 |
- |
0.08% |
0.00% |
81.31 |
82.34 |
Wholesaling |
81 |
110 |
0.13% |
0.17% |
79.50 |
80.41 |
Leisure and Hotels |
108 |
125 |
0.13% |
0.15% |
78.97 |
77.95 |
Media |
53 |
74 |
0.08% |
0.11% |
80.49 |
80.56 |
Food Retailing |
11 |
7 |
0.07% |
0.05% |
75.71 |
78.87 |
Non-Food Retailing |
89 |
141 |
0.11% |
0.17% |
78.61 |
79.54 |
Servicing/Repair |
5 |
5 |
0.06% |
0.06% |
82.01 |
81.59 |
Transport |
58 |
76 |
0.11% |
0.13% |
78.20 |
75.73 |
Utilities |
- |
4 |
0.00% |
0.21% |
79.53 |
80.42 |
Postal and Telecommunications |
15 |
22 |
0.18% |
0.25% |
76.05 |
76.00 |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing |
6 |
13 |
0.03% |
0.06% |
84.93 |
84.76 |
Banking and Financial Services |
69 |
59 |
0.13% |
0.12% |
83.98 |
84.91 |
Health and Household |
- |
- |
0.00% |
0.00% |
79.00 |
80.65 |
Business Services |
350 |
551 |
0.07% |
0.10% |
81.24 |
80.61 |
Hiring and Leasing |
14 |
21 |
0.10% |
0.16% |
81.32 |
80.35 |
Property |
76 |
169 |
0.05% |
0.10% |
82.44 |
84.37 |
Other Services |
58 |
128 |
0.03% |
0.07% |
85.69 |
84.83 |
Plastics & Rubber |
6 |
19 |
0.09% |
0.33% |
77.77 |
79.12 |
Insurance |
15 |
15 |
0.13% |
0.13% |
83.93 |
85.41 |
IT |
55 |
75 |
0.05% |
0.07% |
83.33 |
82.37 |
Motor Traders |
35 |
50 |
0.10% |
0.14% |
79.74 |
79.75 |
Unspecified |
15 |
29 |
0.01% |
0.02% |
74.77 |
71.97 |
Grand total |
1,542 |
2,312 |
0.08% |
0.12% |
80.83 |
80.61 |
Source: pH, an Experian company
ENDS
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[1] The insolvency rate is calculated by comparing the number of businesses that failed with the total business population in Great Britain.
[2] The financial strength score predicts the likelihood of a business failing in the next 12 months, with 100 being the least likely to default and 1 being the most likely.