Almost a quarter (23%) of SMEs believed the UK economy had been damaged ‘irreversibly’ by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to cloud accounting software company, FreeAgent.

The research revealed a disparity of opinion between business owners and accountants regarding the current and future economic outlook of the UK.

The majority of accountants (62%) and just under half (45%) of SMEs thought that they were either about the same or worse off under Rishi Sunak’s government, despite popular belief that he would bring greater certainty.

However, one in five (22%) of SMEs believed there was a greater chance of their business surviving now that Sunak is PM, compared to just 7% of accountants.