The number of companies in England and Wales forced into liquidation fell to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years in the last three months of 2010, official figures showed on Friday. Some 3,955 firms were liquidated between October and December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest quarterly total since Q2 2008 and an 11.3 percent decline on the same period a year earlier.
Businesses benefited from having reduced their reliance on borrowing, said Kevin Booth, head of UK business support at Barclays' corporate banking division. Personal insolvencies reached an all-time record high of 135,089 in 2010, though they have been on a downward trend since the second quarter of the year. Fourth-quarter insolvencies came in at 30,729, the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009 and 13.6 percent lower than a year earlier.