Insolvency-related activities in Hampshire and the South East have slightly decreased, a report has revealed.

Trade body R3's analysis of Creditsafe data showed a drop from 211 in November to 203 in December. This figure is still significantly lower than October’s 293, the highest since March 2022.

Neil Stewart, chairman of R3’s Southern and Thames Valley region, said: "Businesses have faced years of rising outgoings and falling margins since the pandemic, and now have to work out how they will fund further increases in wages and National Insurance as a result of the Chancellor’s national insurance plans” he said.

"If companies in some sectors, particularly retail and leisure, did not enjoy a festive bounce in trading figures, which is largely still to be reported, I fear we will see more insolvencies in the early months of 2025."

Despite the decrease, the number of firms in liquidation owing money to creditors rose from 243 in November to 273 in December.