Yorkshire and the Humber delivered a resilient economic performance in August, showing the third greatest decrease in levels of insolvency-related activity of all the 12 nations and regions across the UK since the previous month, according to the latest research from the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body, R3.
In August, Yorkshire and the Humber saw 211 businesses impacted by insolvency-related activity, down from 256 the previous month. This 17.6% drop was only beaten by Northern Ireland with a month-on-month fall of 26.7%; and the North East which decreased by 19.1%.
In contrast, five of the nations and regions saw an increase in this type of activity (which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings). The East Midlands showed the greatest increase (up by 33.3%); followed by the South West (up by 15.4%); East Anglia (up by 12.8%); the South East (up by 10.1%); and Wales (up by 2.8%).
The research from R3, which is based on an analysis of data provided by CreditSafe, also showed a less encouraging sign of economic well-being with every one of the 12 nations and regions seeing a decrease in the number of start-ups between July and August. However, Yorkshire and the Humber was among the best performing with a month-on-month fall of just 3.5%. In July there were 4,076 new businesses in the region and this fell by 142 to 3,934 in August.
Other nations and regions which saw only a slight drop in the number of start-ups were East Midlands (-1%); Scotland (-1.1%); East Anglia (-1.5%); and Greater London (-3%). Those with the greatest month-on-month fall in new businesses were Northern Ireland, with an 26.9% decrease; the West Midlands with a drop of 10.6%; and the North East, down by 9.7%.
“After the initial euphoria of getting the General Election behind us, it looks like there are still some tough decisions ahead before the UK economy can return to pre-Covid growth,” says Dave Broadbent, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and partner at Begbies Traynor in York and Teesside.
“Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes for businesses as households continue to struggle under the strain of increased living costs. However, it is encouraging to see many of the nations and regions experiencing decreases in levels of insolvency-related activity in August compared with the previous month, and for Yorkshire and the Humber to be amongst the strongest performers.
“With poor forecasts for growth in the short term, businesses should be prepared for the difficult conditions to continue and would be wise to seek professional advice at the first sign of financial pressure when problems have the best chance of being contained.”
