Midlands company failures drop 45 per cent
The number of Midlands companies falling into administration in 2010 declined by 45 per cent from the previous year. According to research by business advisory firm Deloitte, 316 companies went bust in the region last year, compared with 577 in 2009.
During the last quarter of 2010, 71 administrations were recorded in the region, compared to 68 during the previous quarter.
Nationally, the number of administrations was also down year on year, from 3,188 in 2009 to 2,086 in 2010 – a fall of 35 per cent.
Dom Wong, reorganisation services partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “A large number of struggling companies were able to stay afloat because of low interest rates, a lenient approach by lenders and HMRC’s favourable Time to Pay scheme. However, the rapidly changing economic environment will no longer make this sustainable.”
According to Deloitte’s research, the property and construction sector bore the brunt of the economic downturn in 2010, with 453 companies going insolvent. However, this is a significant decline of 34 per cent from 2009 when 683 companies in this sector went into administration.
The retail industry showed “healthy signs of resurgence” in 2010, said Deloitte, with a 43 per cent decline in administrations from 165 compared to 290 in 2009.
