Business failures in construction are continuing to rise, according to the latest figures from Equifax. Failures were up by 1.4% in the first quarter of the year and this has increased further in April/May – up 9.4% year-on-year.

Business failures in the UK in general fell by 5.9% year-on-year in the first quarter but were up by 1.5% year-on-year during May and April.

The construction industry failures come against a background of a 23% fall in orders in construction in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2010 and a fall of 18% compared with the first quarter of 2010.