The West Midlands saw a month-on-month and year-on-year increase in business insolvencies in June.

There were 169 insolvencies in the region last month, an increase of 18.2 per cent from June 2011, according to information services company Experian.

This was 0.11 per cent of the business population in the West Midlands, an increase of 0.02 per cent on the same month last year, Experian said.

Nationally, SMEs led an improvement in the insolvency rate in June 2012, with 1,650 businesses going bust, compared to 1,841 in May 2012 and 1,783 in June 2011.

But the report also highlighted a significant increase in the insolvency rate among larger firms, 0.16 per cent compared to 0.08 per cent in June last year.

Max Firth, managing director, Experian Business Information Services, said: “Although the overall figures for June show a fairly stable environment at the moment led by smaller firms, the higher insolvency rate at the top end of the business world will have an impact on the supply chain.

“Many smaller suppliers, unless they have a good credit management process in place, will find themselves short of a major customer and left with unpaid bills. They will need to move quickly to fill the gap in their customer base.

“When taking on new business, it is vital they start to monitor the health of both customers and suppliers.

“They can be forewarned of any issues and be in a better position to deal with the impact of another business’s failure.”

The national failure rate for June 2012 equates to 0.08 per cent of the business population, according to Experian, a small improvement from the 0.09 per cent recorded in the previous month and in June 2011.

The biggest improvement came from SMEs with 51 to 100 employees – from 0.19 per cent in June 2011 to 0.12 per cent in June this year.

Of the UK’s five biggest industries, the leisure/hotel and the building/construction sectors saw the biggest improvements – from May 2012 and also compared to June 2011.

For firms in the leisure/hotel sector this was the third consecutive month of falling insolvencies.

Nationally, Scottish firms fared the best in June 2012.