Surprise fall in company closures

Company closures are predicted to rise in the coming months

The number of companies applying to be wound up has fallen by 3% last year, the Ministry of Justice says.

A total of 11,791 companies went out of business owing to insolvency or other problems in England and Wales in 2007.

Experts expect that number to rise in the coming months as the economic slowdown begins to bite.

The number of creditors asking for companies to be wound up or individuals be made bankrupt, also fell.

Paul Stanley from insolvency firm Begbies Traynor, said he was surprised the figures had fallen.

"We saw more activity at the end of last year than we did in the whole of the first nine months," he told the BBC.

"I would expect the figures to start to rise in January and February," he said.

The number of creditors' petitions last year also fell 3% to 20,156. Those owed money can apply to the courts for companies to be wound up or individuals to be made bankrupt.

There were large regional variations in the figures.

The number of companies asking to be wound-up in the north-west of England was up 13%.

In Wales, there were 74 applications, down 19%. In the south-west of England the number fell 23% to 2751.