When the Insolvency Service published its statistics for the second quarter of 2022, all the attention was on the headline, overall numbers. There were 5,629 corporate insolvencies in England & Wales in Q2 2022, an increase of 12.7% compared to Q1 2022’s figures of 4,995 and an increase of 81.3% compared to Q2 2021 (3,105). The more meaningful comparison given
It is impossible right now to watch a news broadcast, read a newspaper or scan through a news website without being struck by the warnings of Armageddon for our pubs, clubs and restaurants, already weakened by the pandemic. Calls for immediate and targeted help from the government for the hospitality sector are multiplying and escalating. Energy prices The main focus
As businesses emerge from two years of pandemic related stress (financial and otherwise) it would be easy to look at the increasing headwinds of rising inflation, increasing interest rates, and supply chain issues and think “it’s now or never”. In these times, it can be tempting for businesses to throw everything at the target of increasing turnover, back to pre-COVID
The flip side of rampant inflation is how it deflates not just the disposable income available for the basics in life, such as food, energy and transport, but the resources available for individuals to repay past debts through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Almost 160,000 IVAs were started in 2020 and 2021 in England and Wales and a further 42,789
Having a poor credit score is a current concern for many businesses and in some industries, a potentially fatal one. If a company is deemed to be a poor credit risk, the working capital implications can be significant. Suppliers will struggle to get trade insurance cover for doing business with it and lenders will shy away from providing finance. Five
Whilst many know what Zombie companies are, how they are created and why they are a problem for both the economy generally and can be for their Directors. In this article, we look deeper into the problem. How many UK Zombie companies are there and what are the financial parameters of this phenomenon? The size of the UK Zombie company
