ACCOUNTANCY giant PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to double the size of its north west business recovery team as demand soars amid the economic downturn.

The division's new boss, Matt Wilde, 42, who has taken over following Michael Horrocks's retirement, says he expects staff numbers to double from 30 over the next couple of years as more companies go bust or require turnarounds.

Manchester-based Matt, a married father of two who lives in Prestbury, is no stranger to building recovery teams.

He spent seven years working establishing departments in Amsterdam and Brussels for PwC before returning to the UK in 2004. He began his career at Coopers & Lybrand in 1987.

The credit squeeze, soaring costs of oil and other raw materials, falling corporate profits and a slump in consumer confidence have triggered a dramatic increase in the number of firms becoming insolvent.

Matt, whose team deals with administrations, receiverships and liquidations as well as re-structuring, said today he believed companies reliant on consumer spending would be among the worst hit, in particular those selling big-ticket goods such as cars, furniture and home improvement items, and the property and construction sectors.

The recovery sector is seeing the rise of new types of investors, including specialist private equity turnaround funds such as Endless, and investment funds such as Aglio, which buy companies' bank debts.