Personal insolvencies also increased in the second quarter 2013 to 25,717 but were 6.1% less than the same period 12 months ago.
Despite this, Bev Budsworth, managing director of multi award-winning The Debt Advisor said:
“It does seem that the economy is ‘on the mend’, as the chancellor put it. Both personal and corporate insolvencies are up, which is a worry as it proves there are still tens of thousands of families and businesses who continue to face real financial hardship with rising prices, benefit cuts and a painfully sluggish economy.”
“It can be natural to see a shaky recovery from a recession, especially in corporate insolvencies but I think we can say that we are finally starting to see the ‘green shoots’ of growth in the economy. However, output is still more than 3% below its pre-recession peak so we cannot afford to be complacent.
“An increase of 10.5% shows that the business is still volatile. It’s all about confidence at the moment; our confidence to spend and the banks’ confidence to lend. We have to support our local High Street as our retailers, especially our independents, are still losing out. Even those with an online presence are still finding it really tough with profits squeezed and sales down.”