Begbies Traynor’s profits leap 50% as insolvencies in England and Wales hit a 24-year high

Britain’s debt-laden “zombie” companies are expected to be wiped out by the surge in interest rates, an insolvency specialist has predicted.

Begbies Traynor, a business recovery and financial consultancy, has said all of the nation’s zombies – companies struggling to service debts that have avoided bankruptcy through cheap borrowing costs – will have failed by the end of next year.