The number of companies that have gone insolvent over the past year has exceeded the number that failed during the global financial crisis in 2008.
In the year to the end of July, 25,551 companies fell into insolvency, a figure 1.4 per cent higher than the 25,186 insolvencies recorded over the same period in 2008-09.
The numbers published by the Insolvency Service indicate that the effects of a steep ascent in interest rates since 2021 have become more pronounced. Until now, business failures have been relatively muted since the Bank of England started to increase borrowing costs nearly three years ago, while unemployment has remained surprisingly low at 4.4 per cent.
“The latest insolvency figures are a strong reminder that many businesses are still a