February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Failures among individuals and unincorporated businesses are nearly 70 percent higher than for the first 18 weeks of 2003, with the number of retail collapses currently running at twice the 2003 rate.
Jonathan Cushley of Dun and Bradstreet told the Belfast Telegraph that: “While overall business failures are increasing, the growth in bankruptcies reflects an alarming rise in personal debt and small business collapse.
“The small, entrepreneurial sector of the economy, which has traditionally created wealth and employment in local communities and rural areas, is clearly under considerable pressure.
“Equally worrying is the almost doubling of retail collapses, which suggests that fears of overcapacity in retailing are not exaggerated.”
Garth Calow, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Business Recovery partner, said: “There are early signs that the business community is anticipating some improvement in the difficult trading conditions of the past two years.