Business failures drop as windfalls spur spending
The hotel and catering industry saw insolvencies fall last month to half the level of July 1996.
Figures published by Deloitte & Touche (D&T) show the industry accounted for just five of the 142 insolvencies recorded last month for UK businesses.
D&T attributes the drop to people having more money to spend on enjoying themselves, partly owing to recent windfalls.
"There is a definite fall in the number of business failures in this sector, and we expect the overall number of receivership appointments to be lower this year than for 1996," said Jamie Smith of D&T.
"The more-buoyant business economy is reflected in the catering industry and the trend seems to be continuing for the moment. However, higher interest rates may slow things down in the future."