Rising company insolvencies have provided a boost to one corporate restructuring specialist.

Begbies Traynor reported half-year turnover expanded by 13% to £65.9m in the six months ending October while adjusted earnings grew by £0.9m to £12.8m, Mail Online reported.

Interest rate hikes, subdued consumer spending and an absence of pandemic-era government support programmes have forced more British firms into bankruptcy.

Corporate insolvency volumes across England and Wales grew by about 17% to 24,326 in the year to September, according to the Insolvency Service.

The upsurge was primarily driven by small businesses falling into liquidation, but there was also an rise in administrations involving larger companies.

Begbies expects insolvency activity to continue rising over the second half of the financial year, amid ongoing pressure on the UK economy.

As a result, it is optimistic about achieving annual results in line with expectations, with analysts expecting the Manchester-based firm to make an adjusted pre-tax profit of £21.9million to £22.5million

Begbies told investors: "We anticipate that activity levels in our largest service line of insolvency will continue to increase in tandem with the indicators of corporate financial stress in the UK, resulting from the current interest rate and inflation environment."

Due to growing insolvency levels and recent acquisitions, the firm has increased staff numbers by 93 to 1,051 over the past year.

Begbies recently bought business debt specialists Jones Giles & Clay and the chartered surveyors Banks Long & Co.

Founded in 1989, Begbies has worked on the administration of a number of British football clubs, including Wrexham FC, Port Vale and former Premier League clubs Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield.