The number of companies going for insolvent jumped by 15 per cent in the three months to June compared to last year as businesses struggled with a toxic blend of slowing demand, higher costs and challenging credit conditions.

The number of company liquidations rose to 3,560 in the second quarter of the year, up from 3, 210 in the previous quarter and 3,095 in the second quarter last year, official figures show.

However the number of companies in administration, which typically involve larger corporate entities, has spiralled by 60 per cent over the year. Some 938 companies went into administration in the three months to June, up from 585 in the in the second quarter of last year

Accountants said that pubs, bars and clubs as well as property companies have been the worst affected during the economic downturn as consumers rein in their spending and the housing market has ground to a halt.

Geoff Carton-Kelly, head of restructuring and recovery at Baker Tilly, the accountancy and business advisory firm, said: "A sharp drop in discretionary spending is having a direct impact on the corporate insolvency figures, with pubs, clubs and other leisure companies featuring highly among those companies going in to liquidation as well as property developers and associated businesses who are finding life very challenging in the current environment.

"We are also getting an increasing number of enquiries from professional buy-to-let landlords, who can no longer churn property portfolios to ensure they stay afloat."

Baker Tilly foreacsts that company insolvencies will rise by 15 per cent this year to 15,000, which is equal to about 280 a week.

Liz Bingham, London head of restructuring at Ernst & Young, the accountant, said: "With many businesses and consumers on the ropes an even sharper rise in insolvencies in the coming quarters looks inevitable."

The number of individuals going insolvent fell by 8 per cent, as fewer people sought bankruptcy or entered into an Indvidual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).

The number of people going bankrupy fell to 15,297, down from 25,054 in the previous quarer and 26,774 in the same period last year, while the number of people entering an IVA fell by 12 per cent over the year to 9.256.

However analysts said that the figures masked the difficulties people were having with their finances.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at Global Insight, said: "It is likely that the decline in the number of individual insolvencies in the second quarter of 2008 will mark the lull before the storm as the situation seems certain to deteriorate significantly over the coming months."

Charles Turner, personal insolvency expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountant, said:

“People may be surprised that the personal insolvency numbers have fallen a little this quarter, but we believe this is because the ‘trickle down’ effect of the credit crunch won’t truly hit personal insolvency figures for the next six to tweleve months as consumers in the UK turn from ‘lifestyle borrowing’ to ‘life borrowing’.

Accountants also said that some banks were increasingly turning down IVAs, which allow debtors to pay off a portion of their debt, in favour of their own debt management plans which allowed them to recoup more money from borrowers. These types of scheme are not included in the official figures.

"It appears that debt management plans are on the increase, perhaps as a result of the tougher creditor review regime for IVAs," Mr Turner said.

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