Number of businesses failing jumps by 15%

There was a sharp rise in the number of business failures in the first three months of this year, according to the latest survey of liquidations and bankruptcies.

There was a sharp rise in the number of business failures in the first three months of this year, according to the latest survey of liquidations and bankruptcies.

The quarterly D&B (formerly Dun & Bradstreet) survey found failures surged 15 per cent, with small businesses most severely affected. Bankruptcies of smaller firms rose 20.5 per cent.

There were 10,803 business failures in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland, in the first quarter of 2002.

This was the worst Q1 figure since 1999 and the biggest rise since the economic turmoil of 1998 hit the corporate sector.

Philip Mellor, senior analyst at D&B, said the first quarter of 2001 had shown one of the lowest bankruptcy rates since the last recession, and it was too early to judge if the latest surge reflected the effects of the latest business slowdown and marked the start of a trend.

"This quarter's figures are only marginally above the total for the first three months of 2000, so we will have to wait until the next quarter to be quite sure that the business failure trend is running significantly upwards."