The hospitality and leisure industries suffered from a 30% increase in business failures in the last quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in the previous year.
There were 375 insolvencies in the sector in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to 289 in the same quarter of 2010. The fourth quarter of 2010 saw a drop in insolvencies from Q3 but in 2011, there was a 12% increase, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) figures.
There were 19 collapses of travel and tourism businesses in the final three months of last year, almost double the number in the same period in 2010.
A total of 46 companies in travel and tourism failed last year against 41 in 2010, according to PwC analysis into corporate insolvency numbers. Hotels and restaurants suffered far greater losses.
The total corporate insolvency numbers for all sectors demonstrate that a decline seen in 2010 has continued into the fourth quarter of 2011.
A total of 3,759 companies became insolvent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to 4,042 in the previous quarter – a 7% decrease. But the level of insolvencies increased by 4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
The worst affected sectors in the final quarter of 2011 continued to include construction (656 companies), manufacturing (394), retail (447), hospitality & leisure (375) and real estate (123), PwC said.
London had the highest number of insolvencies with 941, up by 8% year on year.
The East Midlands had the biggest increase in insolvencies at 204, up 27% on the final quarter of 2010.
The most improvement was recorded in the South East where the number of insolvencies dropped by 21%.
