The number of businesses going under has reached a five-year high, with 1,287 businesses made insolvent in England, Scotland and Wales last year.
This figure was up 12% on 2012, according to accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy LLP.

The firm has detailed several factors which could have caused this hike, firstly the rise of online retail and secondly independent stores being squeezed out of business by the expansion of big supermarkets moving into the convenience store format.

Big supermarket chains now have more than 2,300 convenience stores and this number is only set to rise.

Partner at Wilkins Kennedy, Anthony Cork, said: "The supermarkets have the financial power to snap up the best small, inner city locations with heavy footfall, and due to their scale can price very aggressively against convenience stores.

"Unfortunately, many independent convenience stores struggle to match the quality of product bigger retailers because they lack the scale of purchasing and logistics.

"Whilst the boom in the housing market and overall recovery is helping big ticket retailers and DIY shops it does less to help the typical small-scale food and drink retailers."

Wilkins Kennedy concluded that the ongoing price war among the big supermarket retailers is only going to put further pressure on independent retailers.