Issue 260 (Week ending 05/08/2015)

This July saw 89 Irish companies declared insolvent - an average of 3 per day - this is a drop of 45% on July 2014 when 162 companies went out of business.

The majority of industries saw a fall in insolvencies this July. The professional services sector was worst affected with 22 insolvencies but this figure was down 21% on the previous July (28).

Insolvencies affecting the wholesale & retail sector (13) were down 56% on July 2014 - while the construction and manufacturing sectors saw drops of 44% and 64% respectively.

In terms of start-ups, 4,281 companies and businesses were formed - the best figure for July since 2007. 2,517 businesses were registered - up 24% on July 2014 while the figure of 1,764 company start-ups was up 15%.

The most popular industry for corporate start-ups was the professional services sector which accounted for over a fifth of these (402).

The wholesale & retail and social & personal services sectors accounted for a further 20% of start-ups between them while the hospitality sector saw an increase of just over 22% on last July's figure - 126 v 103.