In September 2019, as part of the BBC's We Are Stoke-on-Trent week, we analysed Insolvency Service figures that showed the city had the highest rate of individuals becoming insolvent in England and Wales.
In 2018, almost 52 in every 10,000 adults in the city - a total of 1,029 people - had either an individual voluntary arrangement, a debt relief order (DRO) or went bankrupt. Scarborough had the next highest rate of insolvency with just under 48 in every 10,000 adults, followed by Torbay in Devon at just under 46 in every 10,000 adults.
- The Insolvency Service: Individual Insolvencies by Location, Age and Gender, England and Wales, 2018
- Anne Riddle, independent money adviser
- Clare, a care assistant on a basic wage
- Alan Turley, former Stoke city council boss and Financial Inclusion Group (FIG) member
- Julie Prendergast, Stoke Citizen's Advice Bureau
- Joe, warehouse operative
- Rev Malcolm Mycock
- Infographic: Insolvency in Stoke
- Line chart: Insolvencies per 1000 people, 2002-2018 - Stoke-on-Trent and England and Wales