Failing businesses down, says Equifax
The number of businesses failing in the West Midlands fell by 13.8 per cent in the past year. That’s according to business information specialist, Equifax, which released a report stating that 219 businesses in the region failed in the year to August 2010, compared with 254 in the previous 12 months.
Across the UK, there was an average drop of 13.2 per cent year-on-year.
Nic Beishon, head of Equifax Commercial Information Solutions, said the falling numbers could suggest that banks have been responding to calls to free up their lending criteria to provide new funds to businesses.
He added: “Headlines continue to report cuts in headcount as well as some fairly high profile failures. But a close control on debts and cash flow management certainly appears to be working for many businesses. The trend that we saw throughout all of 2009 for failures to increase has definitely been reversed – which has to be positive news for businesses and their employees.
“The speculation has continued about whether we are heading for a double-dip recession, but our business failures report seems to indicate that all the right actions are being taken by UK businesses – and the organisations that support them - to survive in the continuing difficult trading conditions.”
