WARNINGS of a corporate bloodbath came true in 2009 as the worst financial crisis in living memory claimed numerous victims on Britain’s high street.

January kicked off with a raft of retail administrations as many firms that had limped through Christmas finally threw in the towel.

Barratts and Priceless shoe group Stylo was among the first casualties, with other new year retail failures including sofa chain Land of Leather, Manchester-based Passion for Perfume and electrical goods specialist Empire Direct.

This followed the failure of Woolworths, MFI and music retailer Zavvi at the tail end of 2008.

As well as lower consumer spending, firms have suffered a clampdown on bank finance and a dearth of trade credit insurance for suppliers.

The latter has been one of the biggest issues for the sector in 2009, as concerns over the stability of retailers saw suppliers struggle to secure insurance to cover trade credit, in turn hitting stock supply.

The collapse of book chain Borders UK late in November was largely blamed on the tighter credit insurance market.

The year’s biggest retail failure so far, Threshers parent First Quench, also had its trading troubles compounded by a withdrawal of credit insurance, which left shelves empty as suppliers refused to deliver goods in case they did not get paid.

Borders and First Quench were already under attack from competition, with the likes of bookseller Amazon and supermarkets encroaching on their space and recession pressures widening cracks that had been showing for some time.

Retailers were also not alone in suffering a traumatic 2009. Other failures early on in the year included historic pottery firm Waterford Wedgwood, restaurant chain FishWorks and Purplehotels business The Real Hotel Company as few sectors avoided the impact of the financial woes.

There were some well-known names that followed as company administrations soared by 30% year-on-year in the first half of the year in England and Wales alone, namely the failure of Irish sports broadcaster Setanta.

The group went off air in the evening of June 23, 12 months into a four-year deal with the Football Association worth £150m, with £100m said to be still outstanding.

The Premier League pulled the plug on Setanta after the broadcaster failed to meet a final payment deadline. The collapse affected 1.2m subscribers and 420 staff.

Most sectors were touched by the recession, even fashion. The house of French designer Christian Lacroix crumbled into administration under the weight of debts and losses, while British fashion designer Luella Barley was forced to shut her once successful label after an investor pulled out.

The recession has also put the spotlight on the corporate recovery sector itself as a stream of companies entered administration and few emerged intact.

Aside from seeking to recover as much cash for creditors as possible, administrators aim to run companies with a view to sale as a going concern in a bid to protect the brand and jobs.

Coffee Republic was among the lucky firms after KMPG secured a sale of the brand and business to Arab Investments in July. But many over the past year have been broken-up and sold off piecemeal – such as Land of Leather – with thousands of employees impacted.

Practices in the sector have caught the eye of the competition watchdog amid concerns over the high costs involved.

The Office of Fair Trading launched an investigation in November to scrutinise the structure of the market and anything that “could result in harm”.

It cited a recent World Bank report that showed the costs of closing a business in the UK are higher than other countries with similar or better recovery rates.

However, there has been an increase in company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) as all parties involved seek to find alternatives to collapse.

Sportswear firm JJB Sports and fellow retailer Blacks Leisure secured CVAs this year thanks largely to agreements from landlords to write-off onerous leases. Official statistics show a 16% year-on-year hike in the number of CVAs in the third quarter.

There was another glimmer of hope in the last Insolvency Service figures. Company failures slowed for the second quarter in a row in the three months to September, while administrations dropped for the first time since the end of 2007.