August 3, 2012 Company Insolvencies Falling
Company insolvencies in England and Wales were already at a relatively low level by historical standards and are falling further.
Despite the recent economic difficulties, there were only 4,115 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in total in England and Wales in the second quarter of 2012 (on a seasonally adjusted basis). This is a decrease of 3.6% on the previous quarter and 2.4% less than the same quarter a year ago according to the Insolvency Services.
These figures are also low in terms of the long term trends. In the year ending June 2012, circa 0.7% of all active registered companies went into liquidation. This compares with a peak of 2.6% in 1993 and an average of 1.2% over the previous 25 years. It should be noted that the absolute figures are often higher, but this is due to a massive increase in the number of active companies over this 25 year period.
Striking a company off the register is by far the more common way for a company to be dissolved with over 78,000 companies being struck off the register in the three months ending June 2012.
For information on how to strike a company off the register and for guidance on the process please get in touch.
