May saw 1,027 bankruptcy petitions and 920 court orders, up 10.5% and 5.4% from April, the Official Receiver's Office says.

The number of compulsory winding-up petitions also rose 28.2%, to 50 in May. However, compulsory winding-up orders fell to 39, from 43 in April.

Compared with the same period last year, the number of bankruptcy petitions in May grew 7.1% but that for court orders dropped 12.2%. For compulsory winding-up cases, petitions and court orders fell 2% and 18.8%.