The report showed hose employing over 501 employees saw a fall in insolvencies from 0.16% in May last year to 0.10% in May this year and those companies employing 101-500 employees saw the insolvency rate decrease from 0.14% to 0.10% year on year.
Overall, out of 1,674 UK companies, 0.09% of the active business community became insolvent in May 2011, compared to 1,491 companies (0.08%) in the same period in 2010.
The South West experienced a fall in business insolvencies with just 0.06% of firms failing in May, compared to 0.07% the year before.
In contrast, the eastern parts of the country witnessed a less positive picture against this time last year. The East Midlands had the biggest increase in failures, rising to 0.10% in May from 0.07% last year, while insolvencies also increased in the North East, Yorkshire, East Anglia and South East.
Yorkshire recorded the highest level of insolvencies, with 0.13% of the business population failing, up from 0.11% in May 2010.
It was positive news for Insurance companies in May with the rate of insolvencies dropping from 0.12% last year to 0.04% in 2011. Food retailers continued to be the lowest performing industry in terms of financial strength, with the average score falling from 75.92 last May to 74.60 this year.
Max Firth, MD of business information services at Experian UK & Ireland, said: "The increase in insolvencies was relatively small and at 0.09%, the rate is actually an improvement on April 2011, which was at 0.10%. However in all economic climates, we urge businesses to ensure they effectively manage risk around their portfolio.
"Tracking variations in insolvency rates and business strength across region, company size and sector, continues to be one of the ways we help businesses manage this."
