The prospect of higher labour costs and the threat of trade levies pushed the number of businesses registering for insolvency up by almost a tenth last month.
The number of businesses going bust rose 9 per cent year-on-year to 1,992 in March, according to data from the Insolvency Service.
The number of creditors’ voluntary liquidations, through which a director chooses to close down the business, made up most of these closures, rising 8 per cent year-on-year to 1,543. Compulsory liquidations, when a company is forcibly wound up by a court, rose by 5 per cent to 295.
The number of companies filing for administration — a form of insolvency typically used by larger businesses — increased by 30 per cent to 137 in March.
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