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North East tops insolvency league

The North East had the highest level of insolvencies last month, new figures have revealed, although the region also showed the sharpest improvement on last year.

The latest insolvency index from Experian shows a national year-on-year fall in business insolvencies.

The total number of insolvencies fell by 15.1% last month compared to February 2009, from 2,160 to1,834.

This means the rate of insolvencies fell slightly from 0.11% to 0.10%.

There were 58 insolvencies in the North East last month, compared to 245 in the North West and 156 in Yorkshire.

This represents 0.15% of the region’s business population, but is a market improvement on the 81 firms, making up 0.2% of North East businesses, which collapsed in February 2009.

Rolf Hickmann, managing director of pH, an Experian company, said the figures showed that small businesses have been more flexible during the ongoing tough economic climate.

He said: “It is easier for smaller businesses, with just one or two employees, to easily make adjustments to their operations and pull in the reins when times are difficult.

“For larger business, there is the security that comes with size and a well established structure, so insolvency rates among these business types are also low.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .