Almost one in five businesses could quit Scotland if there is a Yes vote in the independence referendum, a new survey has suggested.
Research for the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) found that 8% of firms had definite plans to move away from Scotland if it voted to leave the UK, while a further 10% said they were considering moving away.
Just under half of the 759 businesses surveyed said they would change their strategy if Scotland became independent, while almost a quarter said they had already changed a business decision as a result of the debate about the country’s future.
A total of 38% of firms surveyed said the main risk for their business after a Yes vote was “uncertainty” during the transition to independence.
However, 23% of companies said there were no risks associated with Scotland leaving the UK.
A regional breakdown for the Aberdeen and Grampian area suggested that three out of four companies did not think there were any “commercial opportunities” from independence.
The figure was drawn from a local sample of 67 north-east companies.
In the event of a No vote, 46% of businesses in the Grampian area wanted to see more powers for Holyrood, compared with 68% nationally.
If Scotland was to become independent, almost two-thirds of all firms backed keeping the pound in a currency union with the rest of the UK – the policy favoured by the Scottish Government.
The survey also found many businesses had a poor opinion of the quality of the debate so far, with 11% describing it as “dismal” and 45% saying it was “poor”.
Those in the north-east were even more critical, with 63% of respondents rating the standard as “poor”, compared with 56% nationwide.
SCC chief executive Liz Cameron urged those campaigning on both sides of the independence debate to “step up their game”.
She said: “It is clear that businesses are distinctly unimpressed with the quality of the referendum debates so far.
“The various political analyses do not seem to be hitting the mark as far as business is concerned.”
The survey was conducted in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council and developed in conjunction with Stirling University.