Rose is the chairman of the Britain Stronger in Europe group, which will campaign for Britain to remain in the EU. Other board members are former chief of the general staff Sir Peter Wall, West Ham United vice-chairwoman Baroness Brady and television presenter June Sarpong. Co-treasurer of the campaign is Sir Mike Rake, former president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and current BT chairman, as well as a former senior partner at KPMG.

Former prime ministers Sir John Major, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair are supporting the campaign to stay in.

On the other side of the fence, there are two main groups pushing for Britain to come out of the EU.

Vote Leave comprises a cross-party group of MPs and peers from the Conservatives and Labour, as well as Douglas Carswell MP, the only UKIP MP. It has the backing of three existing Eurosceptic groups: Conservatives for Britain, Labour Leave, and Business for Britain, and is being funded by party donors.

Leave.EU, which was launched in August as The Know and has been renamed, is funded by a UKIP donor and is also advocating British withdrawal. One of its key members is UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who describes the campaign group as an ‘umbrella group’ of anti-EU campaigners.

There has been a change to the referendum question, with the Electoral Commission recommending voters are asked whether the UK should ‘remain in’ or ‘leave’ the EU, rather than being asked to answer a ‘yes or no’ question. It has yet to designate the official campaigns on either side of the debate, which will be allowed increased spending limits, campaign broadcasts and a free mailout to households.

The Treasury select committee has announced an inquiry into the economic and financial costs and benefits of the UK’s membership of the EU.

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury committee, said: ‘This inquiry will be wide-ranging, dealing with all the economic and financial consequences of the UK’s EU membership, and the impact of departure.

‘The committee’s job will be to attempt to marshal the evidence on this important question into a coherent form, enabling the electorate to make a more informed decision. It welcomes evidence from all those with views and expertise.’

Among the issues under consideration will be the overall economic costs and benefits of membership; how the balance of costs and benefits might change following the UK government’s negotiation efforts and in the light of the euro crisis.

In addition, MPs may consider the sensitivity of any cost-benefit analysis to the terms on which the UK might leave the EU; the terms on which the UK might leave the EU, and the likelihood of it securing continued access to EU goods, services and capital markets; the wider impact of EU membership on the UK’s trade in services and the possible impact of ‘Brexit’ on services generally and financial services in particular.

The inquiry is also likely to look at the EU’s regulation of products and markets in implementing the Single Market; costs and gaps in the completion of the Single Market; compliance of EU regulations with subsidiarity and proportionality; and the implications for EU market access of a divergence of the UK’s regulatory framework from that of the EU, were ‘Brexit’ to occur.

John Allan, national chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘Our research showed that businesses want clear, impartial information on which to form their views. We hope that this inquiry will help to close the information deficit felt by many businesses on this important issue.’

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