Yorkshire is struggling in difficult economic climate, says analysis from R3

A spokesman said: “Yorkshire’s performance ranked around the middle with a fall of 3.3 per cent month-on-month, while Northern Ireland achieved the highest levels of new businesses (up 11 per cent) followed by the West Midlands (up 2.9 per cent) - all of the others saw either a small rise or a fall since October.

“However, the figure of 4,744 start-ups in Yorkshire last month was among the highest during 2023 with only March (5,315) and October (4,907) seeing significantly more new businesses. Looking at the year-on-year figures, November 2023 represented a 1.7 per cent rise compared with November 2022.

“In terms of levels of insolvency-related activity, which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings, two-thirds of the regions and nations saw a rise in November compared with the previous month. Yorkshire was among those with the greatest increases (up by 19.1 per cent), closely followed by Wales (up 19 per cent) and East Anglia (up 18.8 per cent).”

Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds. “The economy appears to be flatlining with little sign of sustained growth, and the impact of inflation is continuing to hamper consumer spending and business activity in what should be one of the busiest periods of the years.

“There’s no doubt that the rapid rise in interest rates since late 2021 is taking its toll and it now looks like there is a real risk of the UK falling into recession next year.”