A new league table from financial analysts Plimsoll Publishing suggests that 1 in 7 UK fresh produce companies are currently at risk of failure.

Plimsoll’s latest analysis of the market weighs all these ingredients and turns them into a one-page snapshot of each company’s prospects. From that, it establishes a league table based on 1,000 leading firms. The headline findings are as follows:

•274 companies are in a strong position, with a pre-tax margin of four percent

•149 are in the good sector, on two percent margins

•209 are rated as mediocre, on two percent

•228 are in the ‘caution’ category, with minus one percent margins

•An alarming 140 are in the ‘danger’ range, on minus 1 percent.

Nearly nine out of 10 UK companies currently in receivership were rated in the lowest two categories by Plimsoll in the two years before their demise. Its senior analyst, David Pattison, said: “212 of the 274 companies in the strong section are there for the second year running, proving that if you have a solid business where management is in control, you can maintain success irrespective of market conditions. The most successful firms are also largely free of debt.

“At the other end of the scale, there is no doubt in my mind that if the pundits are right and the UK market tightens towards the end of the year, then the 140 companies in the danger category will take the brunt of the downturn.”

The Plimsoll analysis looks at the financial strength of each company based on four years’ figures.

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