ALMOST one in three company directors based in the north west - more than 62,000 - have been involved with at least one failed company, and more than l9,000 of them are serial failures, according to a national analysis.

The rate of failure at 8.14, is above the national average of 7.05 per cent, and among women, the rate is even higher.

Despite its reputation for having more millionaires than anywhere else, directors in the north west are more likely to have been taken to court for non-payment of bills than anywhere else in the country, except Wales.

Nationally, it is also estimated that as many as one in ten company failures could be the result of fraudulent activity by company directors.

Safest area is the south west, where 22.84 per cent of directors have been involved in a failed company. The region has the lowest proportion of serial failures at 6.30 per cent, and it also has the highest proportion of female directors, 34.8 per cent against a national average of 33. 25.

Women have increased their representation in the boardroom slightly, in every region except the north of England.

The survey was done by Experian, a global information services company, based in Nottingham.

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