Insolvency level remains at an all-time low

SCOTTISH business insolvencies have remained at an all-time low rate of just 0.03 per cent for five months in succession, a report out today discloses.

Scottish insolvency rates at 0.03 per cent for five months in a row. Picture: Craig Stephen

Meanwhile, the UK insolvency rate has now stayed at 0.08 per cent for a whole quarter – February to April – for the first time since 2007.

Analysts said the survey, from global information services group Experian, indicated that despite Britain’s subdued economic picture the trading environment was becoming more stable and there was greater resistance to business failure.

Experian said that the latest insolvency data for April showed that the very smallest and largest companies both experienced low rates of failure.

Companies with just one or two employees remained at 0.06 per cent, the same rate seen in March this year and April 2012.

Businesses with more than 500 employees saw a below average rate of failures at 0.06 per cent. That was down on 0.12 per cent in March 2013, and the 0.08 per cent seen in April 2012.

Max Firth, head of Experian business information services, said the news was promising as large companies supported “the whole supply chain”, and so would boost confidence among both customers and suppliers, and small companies that “make up the lifeblood of the British economy”.

Of the UK’s biggest five industries, insolvencies in building and construction, and leisure and hotels, both fell 0.01 per cent in April compared with a year earlier.