...and another expert in defying gloom and doom

is another insolvency specialist that should benefit from the gloom and doom. Focused on small and mid-sized companies, the group was founded in 1989 by Ric Traynor, who remains at the helm.

Midas recommended Begbies last September, when the shares were 74p. They sank to 61p in March, as financial markets tanked across the globe. But they have since rebounded, closing at £1.05 last week.

There should be further growth. Begbies publishes regular research into struggling companies and its latest ‘Red Flag Alert’ – for the three months to March 31 – showed that 509,000 British firms were in significant distress, the highest quarterly figure ever. This number is widely expected to rise substantially through the year, and many firms will turn to Begbies for help.

The group runs a property business that helps firms to raise cash by selling assets, but it also provides other services, such as consultancy and transport planning. This division has generated a third of Begbies’ profits in recent years.

Looking ahead, that may change. Sales of property, machinery and other fixed assets are likely to rise in the coming months, but advisory work may drop off.

Gains from the insolvency arm should more than outweigh any slowdown on the consultancy side. Begbies is set to release a trading statement this week and brokers expect a positive update.

Even before it became clear that the UK was plunging into recession, analysts were forecasting a 30 per cent increase in profit to £9.2 million for the year to April 30, 2020, rising to £10.5million for the year to April 2021.

Begbies may beat those expectations and the group pays a decent dividend – with 2.8p forecast for the year just ended and 3p for the current 12-month period.