Nearly half the European companies needing debt restructuring over the next year will be in the UK, according to a survey of distressed debt specialists. They also expect the recent meltdown on Wall Street to lead to a tide of European corporate collapses by the end of the year.

Nearly all of the 59 leading European bankers, lawyers and fund managers specialising in distressed situations questioned for a survey by turnaround adviser AlixPartners said that the string of financial sector collapses in the US would have an impact on European companies.