Instability in the Eurozone is top of the list of issues business owners believe will affect their company this year and next, research finds.

Instability in the Eurozone is top of the list of issues business owners believe will affect their company this year and next, research finds.

According to a poll of almost 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) released by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), more than half (52 per cent) of businesses believe that the Eurozone crisis will have a significant influence on their business in 2012 and 2013, followed closely by cuts to UK public sector budgets (46 per cent), and access to finance (42 per cent).

The EU remains the favoured export destination for UK firms, with the majority (78 per cent) of businesses believing that it is relatively easy to do business with other countries in Europe.

At the other end of the spectrum, 44 per cent of businesses find it difficult to trade with Brazil, and 52 per cent with Central and South America (excluding Brazil). Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) find it difficult to trade with Russia.

The survey also finds more than a third of firms (35 per cent) believe that the disadvantages of rules and regulations imposed by Brussels outweigh the benefits of being part of the Single Market.

The results follow recent BCC survey findings showing that British businesses are not in favour of further EU integration.

John Longworth, BCC director general says that British firms seem to feel that the balance of advantage of EU membership is lessening.

‘That one third of firms think the negatives associated with membership in the form of regulation outweigh the benefits of the Single Market is surprising,’ he adds. ‘It demonstrates that more must be done to make the Single Market work better for businesses looking to export. This includes the creation of a digital single market, making a reality of the internal market for energy, and deepening the single market in services.’

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