The number of businesses going bust has risen by 2.2% in Q2 2011, compared to Q1, according to figures from business information provider Equifax.

The research reveals that in the services sector, failures have fallen by 0.8%, compared to the same period last year, but were up 12.8% in Q2 2011, compared to Q1 2011.

The retail sector saw the biggest year-on-year increase in failures in Q2 at 15.9%. However, compared with Q1, there was a 1.9% drop in businesses going under.

Regionally, the East Midlands appears to be the most resilient region across the country, with a year-on-year drop in failures of 11.3% and 10.3% when comparing failures in Q2 with Q1 2011. The West Midlands witnessed a drop in failures of 7.5% year-on-year and 8.7% compared to Q1 2011. 

Mark Nuttall, director at Equifax Commercial & SME Services, says: “This new report is disappointing given that the trend for more than a year has been a reduction in companies failing.

“But the story in the South-East does reflect the fact that some businesses have just found it impossible to continue to keep their heads above water as the economy fails to pick-up to any great extent. The failures in the retail sector in particular would indicate the lack of consumer confidence that has been reported recently.  

“However, it is also important to realise that we are now comparing figures to a steady fall in failures for the last 12-18 months, and the actual numbers of failures are still not as heavy as they were in early 2009.”