The North East saw a significant rise in the number of "critically distressed" businesses in the final part of last year, a new report has shown.
Research from Begbies Traynor shows that in the fourth quarter of last year there was a 50% year-on-year increase in the number of firms classified as in advanced distress, with county court judgements of more than £5,000. The region outstripped the UK average which showed a 36% year-on-year increase.
At the same time, some 11,800 North East firms were said to be in earlier stage "significant distress", which includes having county court judgements of less than £5,000 served against them. That number was unchanged from the quarter before and up 4% compared with the same period in 2021.
