The latest insolvency figures make bleak reading and confirm the stress on construction businesses in the wake of the credit crunch.

If you add up all the construction companies falling into receivership, administration or company voluntary arrangements in England and Wales in the final quarter of last year you get 226. This compared with 96 during the same period a year earlier.

And the same calculation for property companies, which are major clients of construction firms, presents even more distressing numbers.

The figures show 249 real estate companies fell into receivership, administration or company voluntary arrangements in England and Wales in the final quarter of last year. This compares with 62 in the same period in 2007.

This level of company failures among clients will place even more stress on construction firms who will be among the biggest creditors.
And looking across industry as a whole, while definitions and the rules dealing with company failures have changed over the years, in rough and ready terms across UK the level of company failure in 2008 was the worst since 1992.

The figures show that in 2008 there were 6,276 receiverships, administrations or company voluntary arrangements in England and Wales. This compares with 3,267 in 2007.

But the rate of increase of the collapses suggests that 2009 will see a further increase. 39% of the year’s company failures occurred in the final quarter.