Fall in hospitality insolvency figures received with caution

Insolvencies in the hospitality are down compared to this time last year, figures by the Insolvency Service reveal today.

The official statistics found that for the first quarter of this year the number of businesses in the hotel and licensed sector appointing administrators fell by 14% to 224, compared to the same period in 2012 (267).

Restaurants fared the worst in the sector with 102 closures, followed by bars with 79 calling in the administrators. Hotels and other hospitality operations fared better with 15 and 28 closures during the period respectively.

Although Adrian Allen, restructuring and recovery partner at law firm Baker Tilly, broadly welcomed the figures, he warned: ‘It seems unlikely that the flat-lining economy will have enabled any wholesale improvement in the underlying strength of the sector, albeit some businesses and areas of the country, particularly London, are doing better than others."

He added that there could be over 30,000 businesses in the sector that are struggling to keep afloat and that further challenges such as a continuation in increasing food prices, price-conscious consumers and interest rate rises would only add to the pressure.