Press Release

THE EQUIFAX QUARTER 4 2009 BUSINESS FAILURES REPORT

18% MORE BUSINESSES FAIL IN 2009 - BUT QUARTER 4 SHOWED DEFINITE TURN-AROUND WITH 7.7% DROP

Quarter on Quarter failures for last 3 months of 2009 provide positive foundations for UK economy and longer-range analysis shows Quarter 4 2009 was less severe than 2008

London, 11th January 2010 - Leading business information provider, Equifax, has released its Business Failures Report for the final quarter of 2009 as well as an overall report for the year. Whilst the figures for 2009 as a whole, compared to 2008, show an 18% increase in the number of businesses that went bust, the Quarter 4 figures indicate some clear signs that the UK economy may be turning the corner.

"From the middle of 2009 onwards we could see that the rate of failures in businesses was slowing down, compared to the end of 2008 and the early part of 2009", confirmed Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax. "And the figures for the last Quarter show a continuation of this trend with a 7.7% year on year decrease. This has to be good news for the economy as a whole.

"We have also looked at the number of businesses that went under in Quarter 4 2009 compared to those that went bust in same period in 2007 - before the recession. And whilst the 2009 figures are of course higher, for a number of regions and business sectors they are not as extreme as we were seeing in 2008. Overall for Quarter 4 there was a 22% increase in business failures in 2009 compared to 2007. In 2008 the year on year increase was 32.1%.

"Clearly the UK economy is not out of the woods - when comparing 2009 to 2007 overall there is a 39.5% increase in failures. So the businesses that have survived so far must continue to be very careful about how they manage their customer and supplier relationships to ensure they get paid on time and don't' get caught out by bad debt or failure. And they also need to make sure they are well prepared for external factors that they can't change - it's unclear yet how the VAT change back to 17.5% is going to affect business. But we think our latest figures should give encouragement to those organisations that have come through the last 12 months relatively unscathed!"

The Regional Picture

The overall picture for Business Failures for Quarter 4 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 shows a drop in the number of businesses going bust in every region of the country apart from the West Midlands. Interestingly, near neighbours, the East Midlands, saw a 20.2% drop in failures in the last quarter. Businesses in the South West also survived better in Quarter 4 2009 with a 21.3% year on year drop. And the London business sector also appeared to fare better in Quarter 4 2009 with a 13.4% drop year on year.

Retail sector fares the best in Quarter 4

Every business sector - apart from Wholesale - also saw a downturn in businesses going bust in Quarter 4 2009 compared to 2008. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Retail sector showed the biggest reduction in failures at 20.9%, followed by Transport & Communications at 17.5%.

"Businesses right across the UK and across every sector should take real encouragement from our latest Business Failures Report", concluded Neil Munroe. "But they must also continue to take the right precautions to protect themselves from some of the risks of these continuing difficult trading conditions. They need to continue to use rigorous credit checks, alongside ongoing monitoring of the financial status of their customers and suppliers. By operating best practice and harnessing the power of the latest risk management solutions, firms can minimise the threat of bad debt and secure the future of their business."

REGIONS

	Q4 2007 Numbers	Q4 2008 Numbers	Q4 2009 Numbers	Quarter 4 2009 compared to Quarter 4 2008 % change	Jan - Dec 2007 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2008 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2009 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2009 compared to Jan - Dec 2008 % change
East Midlands	354	524	418	-20.2	1337	1696	1950	+15
East England	324	397	391	-1.5	1254	1359	1723	+26.8
London	1518	1905	1649	-13.4	5365	6169	6871	+11.4
North East	173	273	271	-0.7	620	876	1069	+22
North West	727	1030	966	-6.2	2833	3656	4454	+21.8
Scotland	266	330	294	-11	1267	1253	1069	-14.7
South East	1164	1534	1452	-5.3	4272	5034	6135	+21.9
South West	386	569	448	-21.3	1410	1670	1852	+10.9
Wales	164	192	171	-10.9	591	701	769	+9.7
West Midlands	646	823	848	+3	2354	2773	3488	+25.8
Yorkshire & Humberside	591	824	801	-2.8	2208	2736	3424	+25.1
TOTAL	6358	8401	7756	-7.7	23,649	27,958	32,988	+18

SECTORS

	Q4 2007 Numbers	Q4 2008 Numbers	Q4 2009 Numbers	Quarter 4 2009 compared to Quarter 4 2008 % change	Jan - Dec 2007 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2008 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2009 Numbers	Jan - Dec 2009 compared to Jan - Dec 2008 % change
Construction	746	1154	1074	-6.9	2750	3641	4763	+30.8
Manufacturing	559	749	720	-3.9	2238	2489	3064	+23.1
Wholesale	256	292	299	+2.4	1014	1087	1306	+20.1
Services	1720	2237	2004	-10.4	6434	7324	8213	+12.1
Retail	449	640	506	-20.9	1725	2137	2424	+13.4
Transport & Communications	218	331	273	-17.5	910	1065	1173	+10.1

For interviews with Neil Munroe, or further press information please contact: Cecile Stearn, Margot Tomkinson, Jenny Staniforth or Wendy Harrison at HSL on 020 8977 9132 / Fax: 020 8977 5200 or Email: margot@harrisonsadler.com