After an unxpected dip of 23 per cent in the corporate insolvency statistics that would have sent Andrew Bailey and his team at the Bank of England into a spin last month, the latest monthly figures have returned to 'normal', with the publishing of the May statistics this morning (Monday 19 June).
Rather than raise interest rates by four per cent we in the NTI newsroom decided to stand firm and have been rewarded by our faith in numbers ... and the inevitable rise in insolvencies. The numbers do not disappoint.
The data shows that there were 2,552 company insolvencies registered, 40 per cent higher than May 2022, this was higher than levels during and pre-Coronavirus pandemic levels. For individuals, 617 insolvencies were registered, 5% higher than in May 2022, and around half pre-2020 levels. That is quite the swing (what on Earth happened in May, which registered the first fall in more than 12 months, and a whopper?).
That's more like it, insolvency professionals; we had started to think you were making up all of that, "We are SOOO busy rhetoric."
Adding a little more flesh to the skeleton, the headlines numbers are:
• There were 189 Compulsory Liquidations during last month, 34 per cent higher than in May 2022
• The big one (and maybe the least surprising) is that there were 2,181 Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations last month, which was 38 per cent higher than in the equivalent month last year
• Another portent of the times is the 2,505 Debt Relief Orders, a number 23 per cent higher than in May 2022 - and with the introduction of new DRO hubs this number may continue to fluctuate until it starts to settle
• On average, there were 6,767 Individual Voluntary Arrangements in the three-month period ending May 2023, which was 14 per cent lower than the three-month period ending May 2022
