Less than half of SMEs in the UK do business overseas, and of those that do, most look to neighbouring nations for trading partners.

Less than half of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK do business overseas, and of those that do, most look to neighbouring nations for trading partners.

Some 60 per cent of SMEs with overseas interests plan to trade with Western Europe in the next 12 months, compared to 35 per cent looking to the US, according to the research from Foreign Currency Direct.

Only a handful plan to do business in the growing economies of China (six per cent) or India (four per cent), while 13 per cent are looking to opportunities in Eastern Europe and 11 per cent to the Middle East.

Currency rate fluctuations may be an offputting factor for some businesses, with 29 per cent of the 500 companies surveyed reporting that they had lost out as a result of adverse currency moves.