The report, published for the first time on a monthly basis, showed that 404 firms in the sector, which includes market research and polling agencies, ad agencies, data services companies and software suppliers, closed during August – up 23.5% from August 2008.

The building and construction sector saw 266 companies fold, while 152 property firms closed their doors during the month.

Overall, however, there were reasons to be optimistic as the total number of insolvencies was down 23% compared to July and the lowest number of monthly failures in 2009.

Rolf Hickman, managing director of Experian-owned pH, said: “This latest data is encouraging. However, it is also important to remember that although the total number of insolvencies is close to the total number in the last recession, the insolvency rate is nowhere near as high. The underlying business population has also been growing at an increasing pace, so this needs to be taken into account in order to gain a realistic picture of insolvencies in the UK and the extent of any impact on the UK economy rather than looking at raw insolvency statistics.”