Higher borrowing rates and ongoing inflationary factors saw the April figure up 18% on a year ago when it was 1,838 in April 2023 with the construction sector worst hit.

The figures were still nowhere near as bad as during the financial crash in 2008-09, however the number of companies on the Companies House register has doubled since that time.

In total there were 1,715 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 300 compulsory liquidations, 144 administrations and 18 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), all higher than the previous month and April 2023. CVAs were 50% higher than the same time last year.

In fact, the numbers have risen to their highest since 2013, with 57 per 10,000 companies going bust in 2023-24. During the 2008-09 recession, this hit a peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies going bust. During 2020 and 2021 the number of companies entering insolvency declined, but quickly regained traction in 2022, rising by 8,000 in a year.