BUSINESSES in the region are being warned to prepare against “enormous strain” in the face of war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices.

Insolvency practitioner Begbies Traynor, which has an office in Bradford, said signs business distress may have stabilised in the first three months of this year are likely to be “dramatically reversed”.

The latest quarterly Red Flag Alert data from firm reveals a 22 per cent drop in ‘significant’ or early-stage distress in Yorkshire, compared to the first quarter of last year when the country was in lockdown, and a two per cent fall compared to the final quarter of 2021.

Julian Pitts, regional managing partner for Begbies Traynor in Yorkshire, said while the figures paint a “relatively optimistic picture” they do not take into account global developments “that are already beginning to shake the economy to its core”.

He said: “The gathering storm of the war in Ukraine, and the sharp rise in energy prices and escalating cost of living crisis which the conflict is set to exacerbate, will inevitably put enormous strain on business across almost every sector.

“For small-business owner-managers in particular, it’s now essential to be as structurally and financially well prepared as possible.”