Press Releases
19 October 2009
UK’s coastal towns have highest rates of personal bankruptcies
Legacy of collapse of coastal economy in 1960s and 70s still lingers!
The UK’s coastal towns have the highest levels of personal bankruptcies of the UK’s 50 largest towns and cities, reveals research by Top 25 accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy.
According to Wilkins Kennedy, seven of the ten towns and cities with the highest personal bankruptcy rates in the UK are either former popular seaside holiday towns or maritime and shipbuilding centres.
Hull has the highest rate of personal insolvency at 26.6 bankruptcies per 10,000 adults. Plymouth comes second with 26 personal insolvencies per 10,000 adults followed by Poole with 22.4.
The average rate of personal insolvencies in coastal towns is 20.6, almost a third (31%) higher than the national average of 15.7 per 10,000 adults for the 12 months to January 1st 2009.
Cardiff is the only coastal city out of the UK’s 50 largest towns and cities which has a personal insolvency rate lower than the UK national average.
Wilkins Kennedy says that the decline of the UK’s ship-building, fishing and seaside tourism industries had such a devastating effect on the coastal economy that decades later, the legacy of those towns’ decline is still to be fully reversed.
Keith Stevens, Partner, of Wilkins Kennedy, comments: “It is surprising to see that the impact of the decline of the UK’s coastal economies is still being felt now. The higher bankruptcy rates and unemployment rates at least half a percent higher than the rest of the UK shows these towns and cities still haven’t caught up with the rest of the UK.”
“We would really have expected to see personal bankruptcy patterns to follow the traditional North South divide but this doesn’t prove to be true.”
“Heavy maritime industries and domestic tourism, in the case of seaside resorts, contracted dramatically across the 1960s and 1970s, leaving coastal towns with a major economic challenge.”
“The shipbuilding and fishing industries have been declining for decades whilst the shift from domestic to foreign tourism has caused a huge shock to UK seaside resorts, resulting in stubbornly high unemployment rates in coastal towns.”
Wilkins Kennedy says that coastal towns are in a long battle to replace their ‘sunset’ industries.
Comments Keith Stevens: “One of the first things that happens when a local economy persistently underperforms a regional or national economy is that the more entrepreneurial or highly educated people start to think about relocating to prosperous areas. The ones who stay are those at the lower end of the income ladder, and, obviously, the lower the income, the higher the risk of getting into financial trouble.”
Wilkins Kennedy says that the concentration of pensioners in coastal towns could also explain the higher level of personal insolvency.
Previous research by Wilkins Kennedy found that the number of retired bankrupts has jumped 164% over the last five years as more people go into retirement with growing levels of unpaid debts. Increased life expectancy and the impact of the financial crisis are also putting a dent into pensioners’ incomes.
Wilkins Kennedy says that the coastal economy legacy can be a serious disadvantage but this hasn’t stopped places like Bournemouth and Brighton making steps towards their regeneration.
Explains Keith Stevens: “Despite large scale regeneration plans, seaside resorts are still struggling to become vibrant retail centres because larger retail stores who draw the big footfalls can be more reluctant to set up shop there. This is due in part to the fact that seaside towns have a lower potential for development as the traditional retail area is geographically limited by the sea.”
“This said, places like Bournemouth and Brighton demonstrate that well directed efforts can go a long way in boosting a town’s reputation. Bournemouth, which used to be seen as a retirement town, now has a growing core of young professional residents whilst Brighton has become one of the places with the highest rate of new business generation in the UK.”
ENDS
Press enquiries:
Keith Stevens
Partner
Wilkins Kennedy
Tel: 01784 435 561
Mobile: 07880 601 961
Nick Mattison or Fay Israsena
Mattison Public Relations
Tel: 020 7645 3636
