Receivers and liquidators have been appointed to deal with the insolvency problems of nearly 270 Western Bay companies over the past three years, information obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times shows.
Since July 2010, 143 Western Bay companies have been struck off the Companies Office register as a result of insolvency. One-hundred-and-three companies were still in the process of liquidation, 19 were in receivership and a handful had become solvent again.
The information - the result of an Official Information Act request to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise - shows 109 liquidator/receiver appointments (40 per cent of the total) were made between July 2010 and June 2011. The number of appointments dropped in the 2011/12 year to 78 but rose slightly to 82 in 2012/13.
Tauranga insolvency expert Kenneth Brown said the numbers did not surprise him and were consistent with the records kept by his practice.
RHB Chartered Accountants, of which Mr Brown is a director, dealt with the majority of the insolvencies in the Western Bay and had noticed a spike in appointments during the 2008 to 2011 period.