According to Begbies Traynor, more than 35,000 firms in the UK are expected to go bust in 2009, equivalent to over 95 a day. The figure would be 18% higher than during the previous peak in the 1990s crash.

Mr Nick Hood at Begbies said that he would not be surprised if the number rose to 40,000 by the end of 2009. According to him, about 125,000 people will go bust in 2009, well above the 107,000 peak in 2006, equivalent to 342 people a day.

Mr Richard Goodwin, editor of The London Gazette, said that pagination had reached a record last month averaging 96 pages a day, up from 85 last year and 78 in 2007. He added that "The rate is accelerating on a bad day we could see 20 businesses going under a day. Companies in the last recession are going to the wall this time round, a Chinese restaurant next to a university campus or a hairdressing salon. It feels much worse than the 1990s, there are much fewer options to rescue businesses today. In the past you could go to another bank or small business owners could re mortgage and use equity from their homes, today that is next to impossible."

(Sourced from www.timesonline.co.uk)