As the coronavirus crisis continues, estimates of the likely amount of insolvencies that will result from months of economic and commercial disruption vary widely – but have one thing in common. They all predict very large numbers.

It is broadly agreed that the coming 12 months will see a minimum of between 70,000 and 100,000 companies becoming insolvent, with many predicting two ‘spikes’: an early one composed of businesses that were already weak when the crisis hit, followed by a second wave of businesses that survived the initial disruption to trade but didn’t have the resources to manage a protracted period of recovery.