Business failures hit four-year high with 17,200 collapsing

THE number of British businesses collapsing into bankruptcy hit a four-year high last year as one in every 213 companies fell into liquidation.

Official figures show that 17,243 companies entered insolvency last year, a rise of 4.2pc on the year before and the highest since 2013.

The data emerged after British construction giant Carillion collapsed earlier this month, becoming the UK’S biggest corporate failure in a decade.

Duncan Swift, of restructuring trade body R3, said intense competition and discounting in the run-up to Christmas added strain to retailers already fighting to attract customers reluctant to pay higher prices.

“Businesses faced additional headwinds in 2017 with business rates changes, an increase in the National Living Wage and the final stages of the pensions auto-enrolment roll-out,” he said. “Slower GDP growth has [also] hindered firms’ momentum.”

The worst affected sectors were administration and support services, followed by the construction industry.

The data, released by the Insolvency Service, also showed the number of people in England and Wales who became insolvent jumped 9.4pc compared with 2016, to 99,196 – returning to the levels seen in 2013 and 2014.