Pictured above: Bev Marsh

Businesses across the West Midlands are demonstrating their resilience by bucking the economic doom and gloom, according to RSM Tenon.

Statistics from Tracker, RSM Tenon recovery's early warning system show that insolvencies fell by 22% in the West Midlands in 2010. The average number of corporate insolvencies by quarter was 699 in 2009 which reduced to 549 per quarter in 2010.

The number of corporate insolvencies in England during 2010 fell by 20% compared to the previous year showing the strong entrepreneurial leadership skills within the business community, says RSM Tenon, the leading accountancy and business advisory firm.

Bev Marsh, RSM Tenon's director of recovery based at the firm's New Street office in Birmingham, said: "Businesses throughout the region fared far better in 2010 than the previous year drawing on their experiences and working hard to protect their livelihoods.  However, 2011 is not likely to be plan sailing with the rise in VAT, impending rise in interest rates, public sector cutbacks, increasing inflation, and the scrapping of the Government's Time To Pay scheme.  It is shaping up to be a challenging year for many businesses and it is imperative that entrepreneurs seek professional advice at an early stage." 

Figures show that East Anglia has had the largest fall in corporate bankruptcy last year compared to 2009 levels with a drop of 27%. This was closely followed by the Greater London region which saw a 24% reduction in the number of business failures.  Businesses in the South West did not fare as well however the overall level of insolvencies has also decreased since 2009.