Despite the continuing doom and gloom about the economy, credit agency Experian reports that the insolvency rate in January was the lowest since January 2007 – before the current recession began.

Although there have been a number of highly publicised business failures of large companies (especially retailers), the underlying trend is downwards. Mid-tier firms seem to have proven to be the most robust in resisting the attritional environment. Micro-businesses (those with one or two employees) have also proven to be resilient.