The small business network surveyed 1,000 small business owners in Scotland and found that 53% did not support moves towards independence, while 37% thought it would represent a positive step for their company. Only one in ten felt it would have no material impact.

However, when asked if they believed they had enough information from the different campaigns to make an informed choice about the potential impact of Scottish independence on their business, only 63% said yes compared with 37% who said no.

Almost half of those surveyed (41%) felt that independence would make it less likely that they would be able to invest in growing their business, compared to 36% who felt it more likely and 13% who thought it would make no difference.

A third (36%) of Scottish companies for whom an important proportion of their business is currently derived from outside of Scotland felt the potential impact of independence would be negative, while a quarter (24% ) said it would  have a positive impact and 13% felt it was too early to make a judgement.

When asked which issues concerned them most about being a small business owner in a prospective independent Scotland, taxation, potential new regulations, employment, currency issues, EU membership and transport and infrastructure were those mentioned most often.

Marlon Wolff, CEO of Ingenious Britain, said: ‘There is an indication that a sizeable proportion of small business owners have sufficient reservations about the potential negative issues and challenges independence might present to be seriously questioning whether it is really in the interests of their company.

'However, it is going to be a close decision with many reacting against what they perceive to be status quo in which their needs as Scottish businesses are not reflected or taken into account.’