A new report on business failures has just been released by business information provider Equifax. And it doesn’t make for good reading if you are based in the North East or are in the construction business. 

 The report says that the North East worst hit with a 30.8% increase in businesses going under, year on year.  This is followed by the North West with a 23% increase and the East Midlands close behind on 22.6%.   Other regions that saw increases climb were Wales with a year on year rise of 12.3% and the West Midlands at 11.4%.

Meanwhile business in London fared well in comparison to other regions with failures rising by only 1.8%. This may come as a relief to the capital which had seen a 13.9% increase in failures in the first Quarter.  The rest of the South East was however not so lucky in Quarter 2 as the business failing rose by 16.5%.

The construction sector was the hardest hit in Quarter 2, with failures up 20.3%, compared to same period last year. Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director of Equifax says that this “reflects the downturn in the sector already widely reported.  The Retail sector followed close behind with a year on year increase in businesses going bust of 15.7%.”

But all is not lost as surprisingly the transport and communication sectors actually saw a drop in failures year on year, of 9.3%.

Munroe’s advice for start-ups: check your customers. “Clearly, this is exactly the time when more checks need to be put in place – both of new and existing customers.  And it’s encouraging to see a number of the small business lenders introduce services that will actively help their customers do just that.”

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