1,100 businesses closed daily in Britain during recession

LONDON - Over 1,100 businesses collapsed every working day in Britain in 2009 during the global economic recession, official figures show.

Over 279,000 firms went down in 2009. This was the highest number of businesses that went bust since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) records began a decade ago, the Daily Mail reported.

With each firm employing an average of four to five people, around 1.25 million people lost their jobs as a result of their firm’s collapse.

The ONS said it was the first time the number of business shutdowns overshadowed the number of new businesses. Only 236,000 new firms started last year.

Jane Bennett, head of campaigns at the Forum of Private Business, described the figures as “quite shocking”.

She warned that the recession, which lasted for 18 months, may be over, but thousands of businesses were still on the brink of collapse.

“We are by no means out of the woods yet. Businesses are just as vulnerable to failure coming out of a recession as they are during one,” Bennett said.

The worst-hit sectors in Britain were construction, transport, storage, accommodation, food, information, communication, business administration and support services.