BUSINESS failures in Yorkshire have risen – against a downward national trend.
Figures from business information firm Equifax showed a 1.1% increase during the first quarter compared with the final three months of 2008.
Other regions to report a quarter-by-quarter increase in company failures were East Midlands with 10.9%, Wales with 10.5% and the South West at 14.8%.
However, the West Midlands, Scotland, the North East and the South East all saw a fall in business failures.
Nationally, the number of business failures fell by just 0.5%.
But Equifax spokesman Nic Beishon said it could be an important indicator of how firms have been managing their operations and cutting costs to survive the recession.
He said: “Our new analysis appears to suggest that UK businesses have been working hard to recover from the challenges of the last 18 months or so – or at the very least simply survive!
“While 0.5% is small in itself, I believe it is an encouraging sign of a turnaround in fortunes for the UK economy as a whole although, clearly there is still much to do to put real confidence back into commerce.”
