Big rise in distressed companies in Wales

Almost 19,300 Welsh companies are now classed as being in ‘significant’ financial distress, according to research from insolvency practice Begbies Traynor.

Its latest quarterly Red Flag Alert, which monitors the financial health of UK companies, shows a rise in Q4 of 2024 in Wales of 32.1% on the previous year - although only 0.1% up on the quarter.

In Swansea it was up 28% (907 firms) on the year and 14.1% in Cardiff (2,254 firms).

The increase has been linked to ongoing economic uncertainty, coupled with the impending impact of the tax, national insurance and national minimum wage increases from April, following Rachel Reeves’ autumn Budget announced last autumn.

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