Plimsoll report focused on 70 of the UK's largest channel firms makes bleak reading for bottom 10

Up to 10 major UK channel players could be facing ‘financial distress’ this year according to analyst firm Plimsoll.

The research house, examined four years' worth of financial results and discovered that out of the top 70 channel companies, the top 12 have established a strong hold in the market, 48 companies have their “work cut out” to get their business on a firm financial footing and the remaining 10 are faced with a period of consolidation, which could see up to 500 jobs axed. The analyst was unable to reveal any company names due to confidentiality reasons.

The top 12 UK companies have seen a sustained period of growth, with sales increasing by 54 per cent, profit improving by 122 per cent and staffing levels increasing by 16 per cent, according to the analyst.

David Pattison, senior analyst at Plimsoll said: “These 12 companies are setting themselves apart from the other major players, who look tired by comparison. You don’t pull in financial results like this over such a length of time by accident. They are telling us something about the direction of the market, a sort of elite resurgence.”

However the remaining 58 top companies’ performance tells a different story according to Plimsoll. On average the majority of them have seen sales decline by around eight per cent, profits slip by 28 per cent and staff number fall by nine per cent.

“As any business leader knows, you need to understand your starting position before you can plan forwards. We have established exactly where these companies are now and even provided a best plan for moving each of them forwards based on their current financial performance,” added Pattison.