By Ian McConnell
Business Editor
THE number of Scottish corporate insolvencies in the July to September quarter was, at 270, up by 28 per cent on the same period of last year, official figures show.
Insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 warned of the likelihood that insolvencies would rise further, in the wake of yesterday’s data, flagging pressures from “supply-chain issues, spiralling inflation, and labour market shortages”.
Iain Fraser, who chairs R3’s Scottish technical committee, noted the level of insolvencies north of the Border had risen to the highest since the beginning of 2020.
READ MORE: Energy bills: Conservatives’ scrapping of promise is an act of the utmost stupidity
He flagged the impact on insolvencies of the ending of temporary measures which were put in place in an effort to support businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Corporate insolvencies had totalled 211 in the July to September period last year. In the three months to June this year, the total was 244.
READ MORE: Ryanair launches new routes from Edinburgh Airport, record winter schedule
Publishing its figures for the July to September quarter this year, the Accountant in Bankruptcy noted compulsory liquidations were up by143.8% on the same period of last year, at 78 compared with 32.
There were 192 creditors’ voluntary liquidations between July and September, up by 7.3% from 179 in the same period of last year.
Mr Fraser said: “Compulsory liquidations have risen more than 143% from the same period last year, and the key factor behind this is the end of the temporary legislation that altered the process and criteria for these, in an attempt to support businesses that were affected by the pandemic.
“Supply-chain issues, spiralling inflation, and labour market shortages are all having a huge impact on Scottish firms’ ability to operate successfully, let alone grow.”
He added: “It is likely that we will see corporate insolvencies continue to rise...Scottish business owners need to think carefully about their next steps and plan for all scenarios. If there are issues coming up, like falling margins or overdue invoices, it’s far better to discuss them early when more options are available for finding a solution.”
Mr Fraser declared that, “amid soaring prices and recession fears, consumer confidence remains low”.
He added: “Most people are focusing their spending on the essentials like food and heating, with little left over for anything else...For many businesses and individuals, some difficult choices lie ahead.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel