A poll carried out by Milsted Langdon Chartered Accountants has found a clear majority of respondents wanting to remain in the EU. The firm, which has offices throughout the South West, invited small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to respond to the poll.

Of those who responded, 59 per cent thought Britain should remain in the EU while just 36 per cent backed Brexit. The remaining 5 per cent thought not enough information was available to make an informed decision.

There are now only weeks to go before Britain goes to the polls on Thursday 23 June 2016 to decide whether it will leave or remain in the EU and many SMEs are asking how the different outcomes will affect them.

SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy with a total annual turnover of more than £1.8 trillion. They employ more than 15 million people, accounting for 60 per cent of all private sector employment in the UK.

Jonathan Langdon, Chairman at Milsted Langdon said: “The outcome of the EU Referendum will potentially have a major impact on SMEs across all sectors. Our survey shows a clear majority of SMEs wishing to remain in the EU.

“While many SMEs have real concerns about the EU and wish to leave, the results show the leave campaign still has some way to go in convincing SMEs here in the South West that leaving the EU would not be detrimental to trade with the rest of Europe.”

He added: “Here at Milsted Langdon we’ll continue to provide businesses of all sizes with expert advice on all aspects of tax and finance, whatever the outcome on 23 June.”