Increase in receiverships, decrease in liquidations, increase in collective proceedings: overview of business failures in Aveyron

Benoît Bougerol a succédé à Laurent Cantos à la présidence du tribunal de commerce. Centre Presse Aveyron – Philippe Henry

With an increase in redress in 2024 across the whole of France, the Aveyron Commercial Court is not escaping the national trend. It can still be pleased with a smaller increase.

2024 will not have been a good year for businesses, both locally and nationally. According to the research firm Altarès, 66,000 business failures* were recorded in France throughout 2024. That is 28% more than in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic and the succession of economic crises. The research firm indicated in its report that this rate had reached a level “close to the highest in ten years.”

In the Occitanie region, between the 3rd quarter of 2023 and that of 2024, the increase is approximately 20%. An increase similar to that observed in France. It must be said that the end of the massive emergency aid put in place by the State has not helped businesses, especially the smallest ones, which are more affected by the phenomenon. 86% of failing businesses have fewer than five employees, according to the research firm.

The same observation in Aveyron according to the new president of the commercial court, Benoît Bougerol. “Most companies and entrepreneurs in difficulty are small businesses,without employees or with one or two”, he presents. As for small and medium-sized businesses with more than 50 employees, the opening of procedures has jumped by 47%, thus threatening nearly 52,000 employees in France. “But less here, assures the president. Aveyron is therefore spared for the moment by the acceleration of this phenomenon.”

More litigation and collective procedures

However, in 2024, the commercial court handled a good number of cases. “In litigation, the number of cases registered during the year increased to 142 compared to 123 in 2023″, explains the president. Despite this black spot, he welcomes an increase in the number of disputes judged during the year, going from 115 in 2023 to 138 in 2024. An improvement due to the average time taken to process a case of around six months today compared to more than eight months previously. “Which is comparable to the local courts”, notes Benoît Bougerol. However, the stock of pending cases has increased. “We had 146 cases still registered at the end of the year.”

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In the department, in 2024, 177 collective procedures were introduced during the year. Although there has been no increase since 2023, there has been one to note since 2022 when 102 collective procedures were introduced. As for the judgment of collective proceduresduring the year, there are again notable increases. Over the year, 180 were judged, i.e. 14 more than in 2023, and 34 more than in 2022. Between 2022 and 2024, the increase is therefore 23.29%.

Restructurings on the rise and liquidations on the decline

As for restructurings, at the national level, the increase is considerable, going from 2,838 case openings in the third quarter of 2023 to 3,816 for the same period in 2024. This represents an increase of 34.5%. In Aveyron, this increase is just as impressive, going from 19 in 2023 to 43 in 2024.

The judicial liquidationshave, for their part, managed to stand out and are not experiencing an increase. While the department had 121 in 2023, the year 2024 was more encouraging with 115 liquidations. A slight drop, certainly, but notable given the national increase between the third quarter of 2023 and that of 2024. As for the companies concerned, “three-quarters are simplified judicial liquidations, details the president Benoît Bougerol. They often concern small structures, often without any employees”.

The construction sector in danger ?

Among the sectors most affected in France, construction. With the rise in the cost of materials, the health crisis and the unstable international context, the sector has suffered. And the budgetary uncertainties hanging over local authorities are slowing down decision-making regarding public orders. “In the department, we are still protected from the difficulties that can be felt at the national level, affirms Jean-Baptiste Arcuri, the president of the Aveyron Construction Federation. But companies are still building on the achievements of the previous two years, which were rather good. We have visibility at least until the summer of 2025, or even a little later. But the aftermath worries us." A sector in danger therefore, both in France and in Aveyron, which is just waiting to plan ahead.

The most affected sectors

Some sectors of activity have been more affected than others. In 2024, the Aveyron CCI business difficulties prevention unit supported 34 companies, “mainly in the trade sector”, specifies the public institution.

Benoît Bougerol details. In 2024, clothing stores were the most affected – due to the national clothing crisis – small restaurants, and artisans who have often set up recently. But for him, “it is impossible to draw conclusions from just a few dozen cases”.

Let us nevertheless recall one of the most important cases in the south of the department, that of the Saint-Affrique slaughterhouses. Closed for the first time in April 2023 after a judicial recovery, the company definitively closed its doors in June 2024 when the Rodez commercial court acted on the liquidation.

*A business failure corresponds, according to the definition in force, to the opening of a safeguard procedure, judicial recovery or direct judicial liquidation with a commercial or judicial court. I subscribe to read the rest