Smaller organisations are pessimistic about the long term business legacy of the Olympic Games, according to research from RSM Tenon.

The firm's quarterly Business Barometer has found that just over three-quarters of SMEs think the Games will have no lasting impact on their business, with a 15% saying they believed the Olympics would have a negative effect on them.

Only 6% of the senior managers interviewed by YouGov for the survey remained upbeat and said they believed the Games would have a positive long-term effect.

The highest number of SMEs that thought the Olympics would have a negative impact on their business (17%) were based in the South, followed by Scotland at 16%.

John Abbott, RSM Tenon's head of clients and markets, said: 'The Olympics has been a great success and a terrific showcase for the UK, and so I do wonder if there could be some obvious benefits to SMEs in the future through increased tourism and a rise in overseas investment. It's difficult to predict, but it could be that the future isn't as gloomy as predicted.'

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