Member Article

Retail administration figures increase

New figures indicate that the number of retail companies falling into administration increased by 8% on last year in the second quarter of 2011.

The research, conducted by Deloitte showed that 43 firms in the region were forced to seek help, compared with 40 in the same period in 2010.

Spending is now like to continue for the rest of the year, due to concerns surrounding high inflation, unemployment and reduced disposable income.

Dan Butters, Restructuring Services partner at Deloitte Newcastle commented: “The retail sector is going through a significant period of change with many companies buckling under the pressure of weakened consumer confidence and a sluggish economy.

“Whilst the overall increase in the number of retail failures in this quarter is relatively small, inflation ha hit retailers hard in the second quarter and unfortunately we are likely to see retail administrations increase as the year goes on.”

While there was a 19% decrease in retail administrations on the previous quarter, this should not be seen as an encouraging sign, as this is often the period when the largest number of administrations occurs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .