SMEs divided on EU referendum

Despite the recent surge in support for Vote Leave, 46% of SMEs say it would be best for business to leave the EU, compared to 54% who think we should remain. Meanwhile nearly one in five business owners (17%) said they had changed their personal opinion in the last three weeks.

When looking at what or who is influencing decisions, the Stronger in Europe supporters are most convinced by the IMF and Bank of England.

For Vote Leave, most SMEs said that Boris Johnson had played the biggest role, ahead of Nigel Farage, Michael Gove or any mainstream organisations.

Despite the heavy media reporting on Brexit in the last few months, most business owners said there had been just the right amount of coverage on Brexit to keep the public informed. However, 45% felt there has been a bias towards Remain, compared to 16% who said there was a bias towards Leave.

Amy Cashman, UK Managing Director of Financial Services & Technology at TNS, commented:

“The fact that major economic powerhouses like the IMF and Bank of England are holding the most sway for the Remain camp suggests that for SMEs, the ‘head over heart’ approach may push things in favour of staying in the EU. We saw a similar thing happen with the Scottish referendum last year where despite the late surge for the Leave Camp, the majority of business owners and entrepreneurs chose to stick with the less risky option of what they already knew.”

SMEs are also evenly split about whether David Cameron will step down as Prime Minister after the vote. Half of all respondents (49%) believe he will stay on regardless of the outcome.

Cashman continued:

“It’s interesting to see that even for those in the Leave camp, a large proportion predict Cameron will stay on as Prime Minister if we leave. Given the uncertainty that would follow a Brexit, it makes sense that businesses would rather not pile on further uncertainty with a change in Prime Minister. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage are also seen by many as ‘Marmite’ characters and not necessarily the most obvious candidates to lead the country.”

The findings reported are part of an ongoing SME forecasting survey by TNS called ‘Business Minds’.