A dramatic rise in corporate insolvences in September suggests there may be a "rocky road ahead" for many firms now that government support to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic has ended according to the Eastern branch of R3. Insolvency Service figures show that the number of insolvent businesses in England and Wales increased by 7.2 per cent in September to a total of 1,446, up 56 per cent on the month last year and close to the 1,515 seen in January of last year.

R3 Eastern chair Alistair Bacon, of AMB Law in Ipswich, said: “The monthly rise in corporate insolvencies was driven by Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations, which have increased for the third consecutive month. Directors may be closing their businesses after deeming financial survival unlikely after 18 months of struggling through a pandemic. Despite the fact that businesses have benefitted from two months of restriction-free trading and the economic boost over the summer, conditions are still not back to where they were before Covid-19."

He added: “Consumers are now more cautious about the state of the economy and the growing cost of living and are more wary about spending their money. With widespread supply chain disruption and significant wholesale energy price increases building up between September and October, there is likely to be little slack for vulnerable businesses."