Insolvencis down Q1

Corporate insolvencies declined in first-quarter Corporate insolvencies fell in the first quarter despite the economic impact of coronavirus, new figures show. Office for National Statistics data showed there were 3,883 company insolvencies in the first quarter, a decrease of 8.5% from both the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2019. The ONS said the statistics “largely predate the emergence of, and response to, the coronavirus pandemic”. However, it warned: “Some statistics may have been affected where individuals, insolvency practitioners, intermediaries and courts were unable to process insolvencies in the usual manner during the latter part of March”. Duncan Swift, past president of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, added that the quarterly and year-on-year decrease in corporate insolvency numbers “is highly unusual given the circumstances and climate, and very unlikely to last.”