In the monthly SME tracker survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Corporate Finance Network (CFN) concerns about the current state of the UK economy and political uncertainty were among the top concerns for SMEs.

The survey sought views from accountants working in practices advising some 14,000 SME clients across the UK.

In the last three months confidence figures have fallen with 75% of mid-sized businesses now planning to expand their business activity, compared with 94% in April, which would lead to stagnation if this trend continued, ACCA warned.