A significant year-on-year drop in business insolvencies has been recorded during October, according to the latest Insolvency Index from Experian.
The number of UK businesses failing last month dropped 17%, from 1,976 in October 2009 to 1,635. This equates to an insolvency rate of 0.08% of the business population, compared to 0.10% the year before.

Experian said the figures reflect "the long-term improvement in insolvencies". Max Firth, managing principal of Experian company pH, said: "It is encouraging that the business population in general is faring better in terms of insolvencies than this time last year, despite mid-market failures increasing in October. It remains key for organisations to ensure that they use data insight to help them understand and manage the risks in today's marketplace."

All regions saw year-on-year falls in insolvency rates, with Scotland regaining its position as the region with the lowest rate of insolvencies (0.05%).

The largest companies saw the biggest improvement to the insolvency rate, which dropped to 0.10% from 0.16% last October. The mid-sized companies (with 51-100 or more employees) were the only businesses to see an annual increase, with the insolvency rate leaping to 0.24% from 0.19% in 2009.

Non-food retailers saw the number of insolvencies drop from 109 last year to 90 in October 2010.