Brexit uncertainty is also likely to affect growth this year, according to the EY Item Club

Companies are scaling back spending and hiring plans more ferociously than at any time for nine years amid uncertainty about Brexit, a survey of finance chiefs has found.

Executives at some of the biggest British businesses are prioritising measures to drive down costs to shore up their balance sheets, according to Deloitte’s quarterly survey of chief financial officers.

Uncertainty over the terms of the UK’s departure and its future trading relationships is increasingly weighing on businesses’ investment plans. Nissan, the Japanese carmaker, cited Brexit as a factor in its decision at the weekend to scrap plans to build its new X-Trail model in Sunderland.

Deloitte found 79 per cent per cent of finance chiefs were pessimistic in the third quarter last year ALAMY

Deloitte’s fourth-quarter survey polled 110 finance chiefs, including those at FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies as well as the British