There has been a year-on-year fall in business insolvencies during July, according to the latest Insolvency Index from Experian.

It found that 1,542 UK businesses failed last month, 33% fewer than the 2,312 insolvencies recorded in July 2009. This equates to an ‘insolvency rate’ of 0.08% of the business population in July 2009, compared to 0.12% the year before.

At 80.93, the financial strength score of UK businesses in July was marginally higher than the 80.61 recorded in July 2009, and up slightly on June 2010 (80.83). However, it remains down on the 12 month high of 81.37 recorded in December 2009.

All business segments bar the largest companies (501+ employees) saw insolvency rates fall year-on-year, with the biggest improvements being amongst 101 – 500 employee companies. This segment saw 30 insolvencies in July 2010, 56% fewer than in July 2009.

Max Firth, managing principal of Experian firm pH, said: “July’s data indicates that the SME population is faring much better in terms of insolvencies than it did this time last year