A report published recently in the EN shows that company failures in the North West incurred a 9.1 per cent increase during the third quarter.
Although the North West has suffered, it has got off relatively lightly as a whole, as business failures throughout the UK rose by 20.3 pre cent year on year to 7,994 in quarter three; the highest figure for more than 12 months.
The South East and London are the worst hit regions in the period, while only the East Midlands bucked the trend showing a small decline in the number of firms going out of business.
Sector wise, retail was by far the biggest percentage increase in company failures. In terms of overall numbers, however, the services industry took the largest hit, recording 2,001 company failures in the third quarter.
This combined with inflation hitting a three year high in September, together with ever increasing utility bills in respect to gas and electricity suppliers and an expected rise in business rates in England, Scotland and Wales paints a poor outlook for businesses in the next financial year.