Hospitality businesses in Yorkshire have continued to put in a strong performance in the run-up to the busy Christmas period, according to a survey.

The latest research from insolvency trade body R3 shows that the level of restaurants across the region at higher than normal risk of insolvency has fallen for the second month running – outperforming the UK average.

The proportion of Yorkshire restaurants with a higher than normal risk of insolvency in November fell by almost 0.5% to 38%. UK-wide, 40% of restaurants were at higher than normal risk – representing a decrease in risk of about 0.2%.

Restaurants tend to have one of the highest insolvency risks of the sectors tracked.

The latest figures mean that 1,114 of the region’s 2,988 active restaurants are considered to have a higher than normal risk of insolvency. This makes the region’s restaurant sector the fifth best-performing of the 12 regions surveyed across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Chris Wood, Yorkshire R3 committee member and partner at Clough Corporate Solutions in Cleckheaton, said: “These latest figures show that the region’s restaurants are entering their busiest time of the year in a relatively healthy position which is particularly reassuring as January is traditionally a tough time in the sector.

“In the New Year, not only do restaurants tend to suffer from a curb in consumer spending after festive excesses, they are also faced with the challenge of rent quarter day.”

Mr Wood said: “We are fortunate that the region is well-served by a varied restaurant scene and, notably, has the largest number of Michelin-starred restaurants of any county. Added to that, recent announcements from a number of highly acclaimed restaurant operators that they will be opening new ventures in the region means the outlook for 2016 looks promising.”

Overall, November was a relatively poor month for recovery across most sectors in Yorkshire and across the UK.