Haste makes waste

The current market conditons mean a lot of companies will fold. Many are unsurprising - when was the last time you shopped in Woolworths (excluding Pick-n-Mix)? In fact, Standard & Poor's estimates that up to 75 European businesses from its speculative grade category could default this year for around EUR20bn. Though high, the wave of bankruptcies in the UK may exaggerate the true level of "failure", as some banks overzealously close the curtain on a number of businesses they lend to. Work-out restructurings seem a thing of the past