Why Bradford is debt capital of the region (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Why Bradford is debt capital of the region

10:07am Monday 6th July 2009 in

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Bradford has been named Yorkshire’s debt capital with more than a quarter of all enquiries about money worries coming from the district, it has been revealed.

Statistics released by the website yorkshirelawyer.co.uk, show that more people from Bradford are seeking legal advice about financial worries than in any other part of the county.

The economic downturn has hit a number of Bradford-based businesses hard, with household names based in the city such as retailers Empire Direct and Shipley-based manufacturer Havells Sylvania disappearing from the scene.

Redundancies at some of the area’s largest employers have sparked a huge number of inquiries about personal financial problems, a spokesman said.

More than a quarter of enquiries generated (26 per cent) were by people living in Bradford, Leeds came second (22 per cent) and Sheffield (19 per cent).

The survey’s findings echo statistics released by Citizens Advice for the first three months of 2009.

Enquiries about redundancy soared 179 per cent compared with the same period of 2008 and there was a 21 per cent increase in people wanting help with debt problems.

Justin Lister, managing director of Local Legal Directories, the company behind the yorkshirelawyer website, said: “People in Bradford appear to have experienced much greater debt problems than many other areas of Yorkshire.

“I’m sure that this is a result of the double whammy of the loss of a number of major employers in the city, coupled with rising levels of personal debt.

“Debt is a problem that affects many people, and although it is reassuring that people in Bradford are being pro-active and seeking out legal advice, rather than simply ignoring the problem or even turning towards loan sharks, it is clear that the knock-on effects of the credit crunch have hit the city and local economy hard.”

More than 6,000 people have used the service since its launch, which tracks the way in which people are looking for legal advice.

However, the survey also showed that Bradford was behind Leeds (40 per cent) and Hull (30 per cent) for the highest number of people seeking insolvency enquiries.