25% jump in firms facing ‘critical’ financial distress, with property and construction sectors featuring heavily, says Begbies TraynorBusiness live – latest updatesMore than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in the number of businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a report.It marks the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter period when critical financial distress has risen by a 25%, the latest “Red Flag” report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor found.Construction (7,849)Support services (7,096)Real estate & property services (6,228)Professional services (4,347)General retailers (3,133)Telecoms & IT (2,830)Health & education (2,719)Media (1,828)Financial services (1,373)Food & drug retailers (1,343) Continue reading...