UK business insolvency rate falls

| 16-10-2009| Business & Investing

The pace of business insolvency in the UK slowed during August to its lowest level for almost a year – providing another sign for the economy that the worst of the recession might be over.

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This is the latest story in a recent stream of positive news about the UK economy and represents the first drop since September 2008.

Despite the 48% rally in the FTSE 100 since the beginning of March, few UK business leaders are expecting a strong recovery of the British economy in 2010.

Last week, for example, a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that the UK job market has fared better than those of the US or its European counterparts.

There remain, however, wide geographical disparities within the new data on business failures.

The north-east of England saw the highest increase in the number of insolvencies in August, up 92.7% compared with the same period last year.

About 0.09% of UK businesses failed in August, less than the 0.11% in July.

Rolf Hickman, managing director of pH – one of the companies belonging to Experian, which carried out the research – said: “Although it is too early to tell whether this is an indication of a more positive outlook, one thing is for sure: businesses are distinctly aware of the current environment and the need to be cautious in any business dealings.”

Among the findings from Experian were that postal and telecommunications businesses saw the highest level of financial distress and that businesses employing fewer than five people proved most resilient.

Smaller businesses – with five employees or fewer – were the most resilient in August, with insolvency rates of 0.05% for businesses with up to two employees and 0.12% for firms with between two and five employees.

El vocabulario de esta semana

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Nouns:

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1. pace – ritmo
2. level – nivel
3. rally – subida de la Bolsa
4. counterpart – homólogo, equivalente
5. insolvency – insolvencia

Noun phrases:

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1. recent stream – riada, flujo reciente
2. strong recovery – una fuerte recuperación
3. UK job market – el mercado laboral del Reino Unido
4. business failure – el fracaso empresarial, de un negocio
5. current environment – entorno actual
6. business dealings – operaciones entre empresas
7. financial distress – problemas financieros
8. insolvency rate – tasa de insolvencia

Verbs:

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1. to slow – ralentizar
2. to represent – representar
3. to remain – permanecer
4. to fail – fallar, fracasar, suspender
5. to employ – emplear

Verb Phrases:

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1. to be over – haber terminado
2. to fare better than – ir mejor que
3. to be too early to tell – demasiado pronto para saber
4. to carry out – llevar a cabo
5. to be aware of – ser consciente de
6. to prove resili