More than one in 10 of employers in the South West are likely to make staff redundancies in the year ahead, according to a new survey.

The study commissioned by workplace experts Acas and carried out by YouGov, asked British businesses about their redundancy plans in the next 12 months.

It showed more than 10 per cent of respondants were expecting to make staff cuts.

Mike Fenn, Acas area director for the South West, told Business Live: "Global events over the past few years have thrown up difficult challenges for some businesses and our poll reveals that more than one in ten of them in the South West are likely to make redundancies in the next 12 months.

"Our advice is that bosses should exhaust all possible alternatives to redundancies first, but if employers feel like they have no choice then they must follow the law in this area, or they could be subject to a costly legal process."

The survey found that nearly 1 in 5 employers in Britain (18 per cent) are likely to make staff redundancies over the next year, while 72 per cent were unlikely to make redundancies and 10 per cent did not know

Large businesses who employ more than 250 people are more likely to make redundancies, with 30 per cent predicting they will lay off staff, compared to 10 per cent of SMEs predicting staff cuts.

The squeeze can also be seen in the growing number of UK businesses at risk of going under.

A report by insolvency firm Begbies Traynor said construction and hospitality are the sectors struggling most as costs spiral and Covid loan repayments come due.

In the first three months of this year there was a 19 per cent rise in businesses in critical financial distress compared to the start of 2021, attacking the figure to 1,891.

County Court Judgements - a warning sign of future insolvencies - were up 157 per cent to 22,552 in the quarter compared with a year ago; with March having seen the highest number in a single month for five years.

Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor, said without further action to help struggling businesses there would be a wave of business failures.

She said: "The critical distress and CCJ data are likely predictors of a wave of insolvencies coming.

"It's just a case of when the dam holding it back finally bursts."