Record number of businesses go bust in West Midlands ahead of 'powder keg' legislation changes

The statistics, published by the Government's Office for National Statistics, show 25,595 businesses closed their doors for the final time in 2024 - more than 10 per cent of the region's 215, 000 enterprises.

The figures were broadly in step with the rest of the country as 257,970 firms went out of business across England, out of the country's 2.4 million companies.

Hardest hit were companies in the professional and technical services sector, closely followed by the construction trade.

The bleak figures were published ahead of next month's planned increases to employer-based National Insurance Contributions and the national living wage, the latter set to rise 6.7 per cent, which have left businesses in the region feeling "downbeat", according to local Chamber of Commerce surveys.

Announcing the budget in October 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the measures would raise £40 billion in taxation, aimed at tackling what she says was a "challenging inheritance" of £22 billion of 'unfunded' in-year spending pressures and stagnating living standards.