Four thousand more companies go bust
Article Date: Nov 07 2008More than 4,000 UK companies went into liquidation between July and September, an increase of 8.8 per cent on the previous quarter.
While fewer companies went bust than at the nadir of the dotcom crash in the fourth quarter of 2002, the figure still represents an increase of 26 per cent on the same period last year.
Catherine Matthews, partner at insolvency practioner Tomlinsons, comments, ‘The figures underline just how tough things are at the moment for companies, and that the recession is really starting to bite.’
According to Tim Carter, head of insolvency at law firm Stevens & Bolton, there is more to come. He says, ‘On average I’m getting one enquiry a day [about insolvency] and some of them are repeat enquiries – in other words, they’ve called again because the problem is getting worse.’
While the figures are worrying, Carter adds that actual insolvencies have yet to rise as fast as some predicted: ‘Pundits and commentators said there would be a huge increase of insolvencies in the first quarter of 2008, which didn’t happen. Now they are talking about that happening in the first quarter of 2009.’
