It’s not good news, and if you compare with August and September of last year, it doesn’t bode well for the coming months:

In both August and September there are names on the list that were very familiar to me and that I was unaware had gone bust (although, they may still be trading unfortunately).

If you think back to August and September of last year with all the news in the press you would have imagined that the world was coming to an end, yet according to the Double Glazing Forum only 94 companies ceased trading. In comparison, the market seems far more buoyant now with more positive spin in both the national media and trade media, yet in August and September this year 409 companies have gone bust. That’s more than four times the amount of business failures!

Assuming the information on this website is correct (and I have no reason to doubt that it isn’t), it seems there is some sort of lag between an economic downturn, and business failures. If this trend were to continue then the natural peak for bankruptcies in our industry over the winter period could be at unprecedented levels.

But, if this has got you all depressed, don’t worry. At least we aren’t these people!

I’m not for vouching for the accuracy of the numbers of companies being listed as I’m not sure how the people who run the website collate the information. However, I couldn’t help adding up the numbers of companies listed on a monthly basis and creating a quick spreadsheet.

The results are as follows:

I must admit I’m surprised at how bad it seems to have got this year. You expect an increase of bankruptcies in December, January and February but normally trading picks up for the rest of the year.

If the information is correct then the above graph is pretty depressing all around.

(Coincidently, in July, Phoenix Window Services Limited ceased trading).