The majority of small companies would vote to stay in the European Union if there were to be a re-run of the Brexit referendum, a survey shows.

A poll of 965 small businesses found that 56 per cent now want to stay in the EU and 32 per cent wish to leave. The remainder were undecided or declined to state their preference.

The survey, which was conducted by Funding Circle, a peer-to-peer lending platform, highlighted a 7 per cent swing towards remaining since April last year.

The same proportion who said that they would vote to stay in the EU if there were a second referendum said that they wanted a public vote on the final terms of any Brexit deal.

James Meekings, Funding Circle’s