Scottish business failures at pre-recession levels

Blair Nimmo, head of restructuring for KPMG in Scotland

The number of Scottish companies going out of business has fallen to pre-recession levels, according to figures from accounting firm KPMG.

Between July and September, there were 177 corporate insolvency appointments, a fall of 30 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier and down 17 per cent on the previous quarter.

However, the number of administrations – which typically affect larger organisations – increased by 27 per cent year-on-year to 19.

In contrast, liquidations, which tend to affect smaller businesses, decreased by 34% per cent from a year earlier to 158.

Blair Nimmo, head of restructuring for KPMG in Scotland, said: “The latest figures reveal a material fall in the number of companies going into insolvency in Scotland over the past quarter compared with the three months prior and the same period the year before.

“To put this in a wider context, there are now fewer businesses failing than before the recession, and there is no doubt that, for the most part, business confidence is on the rise.”