Extra staff to deal with rise in insolvency

ACCOUNTANTS and insolvency experts are recruiting extra staff to deal with the expected rise in the number of firms failing to cope with the credit crunch.

Insolvency firms are upping their headcount in anticipation of a peak in companies encountering problems.

Companies struggling to deal with the combined effect of tightened bank lending, increasing raw material costs and lower customer demand are increasingly having to call in outside professional help.

Edinburgh-based Johnston Carmichael is moving into a much larger office in the city's West End and increasing its headcount by 40 per cent – taking its expert insolvency team to 14.

Matt Henderson, an insolvency practitioner with the firm, said: "We believe spring 2009 will be the peak and we are expanding accordingly."

He added: "I, and also members of my staff, have had a lot more calls from recruitment consultants than usual, suggesting other firms are doing the same and that there are more jobs around."

A change in legislation brought in April this year, making it easier to declare bankruptcy, is also expected to filter through and boost the number of personal insolvencies in Scotland next year.