The latest corporate insolvency statistics released by the Insolvency Service for Q3 (July to September) show 3,201 liquidations slightly increasing by 2.2% from the previous quarter while 75 CVAs show a significant decline by 30.6% from Q2. The number of liquidations is broadly at the lowest level over the last 30 years since the previous peaks of 5,110 liquidations in Q1 of 2009 and 6,332 in Q1 of 1992.
Despite the above statistics which might suggest businesses are doing well, research carried out in mid-October by Pinsent Masons among Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) and published in Insolvency Today found that two thirds of the insolvency profession believe Brexit will contribute to an increase in the number of business failures in the UK over the next 12 months.
Uncertainty about the future is not the only pressure looming over businesses.
Arguably, loose monetary policy and low interest rates maintained by the Bank of England post the 2008 Great Recession may have preserved the life of many zombie companies. But given the increase in inflation revealed last month, and the forecasts of more to come, it may be that there will be no further room for interest rate reductions. Indeed, interest rates look likely to start rising, which might benefit savers but not businesses. Indeed, rising inflation combined with declining profits that many businesses are reporting raise the spectre of stagflation. Insolvencies can’t be far behind.
What other factors may affect business insolvencies?
Recent criticism of Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, by some members of the Government has led to concern about their relationship which leads to further uncertainty. While the Governor has announced that he will stay on for an extra year beyond his 2018 term it isn’t the full three years option that would have reassured the money markets.
Business confidence is key for the economy since it is a prerequisite for medium and long term investment. Investment in turn improves productivity which in turn justifies higher wages which leads to a higher standard of living. The focus on employment has overlooked the quality of jobs and prospects for employees to share in the spoils of improved productivity.
It remains to be seen how the forthcoming Christmas trading period will unfold and whether this, combined with new business rates which come into effect from April 2017 will expose the retail and hospitality sectors and their dependence on people having a level of disposable income.
In our view the signs are not looking good for those UK businesses with high overheads and low margins and those that have hung on since 2008 but still have high levels of debt to service.