South East: Marine sector businesses at lower risk than other industries in the region, says R3

The marine sector in the South East is showing a more positive outlook than many industries in the region, according to a group of Hampshire insolvency experts.

The Southern Committee of R3, which brings together insolvency practitioners from local accountancy, legal and recovery firms, has revealed that the marine industry is performing better than other sectors in the region in terms of financial stability.

The research, compiled using Bureau van Dijk’s ‘Fame’ database of company information, tracks the proportion of businesses across key sectors that have a heightened risk of entering insolvency in the next year.

Andrew Watling, chairman of the Southern Committee of R3 and a director at Quantuma in Southampton, said: “While many industries saw a huge jump in the number of businesses at high risk of insolvency at the beginning of 2015, the marine sector is sailing relatively smoothly. Big events like the London Boat Show and the recent naming and departure of the Britannia shows there’s still a lot of national interest, while grant money like the Solent LEP’s Defence Growth Partnership SME fund is doing a lot to keep local marine businesses afloat.

“It is not uncommon for there to be a spike at the beginning of the year in the number of businesses across the sectors that are considered at high risk of insolvency. This can mostly be put down to companies who are overdue with filing in the calendar year.”