Bank of England We certainly do not need a repeat of the last recession, when the relationship between banks and small businesses broke down completely. Martin Williams, managing director of Graydon UK

Many business owners are making matters worse for themselves by delaying seeing their bank manager until it is absolutely necessary, says credit agency Graydon UK and the Forum of Private Business (FPB).

Just 80 out of the 400 small businesses interviewed said that they sought financial advice four times a year or more, while most said they would choose their accountant over their bank manager for financial advice.

36 per cent said they had no confidence in their adviser’s knowledge of their business and as such have not met with either their bank manager or accountant in the past 12 months.

Phil Orford, FPB chief executive, said that increasingly established relationship between businesses and their bank business managers were being replaced by staff in call centres, undermining long-standing and profitable business banking relationships. As a result, he added:

“In light of these changes, it is not surprising that more small business owners are turning to trusted accountants rather than their bank managers,”

Martin Williams, managing director of Graydon UK, said:

“We certainly do not need a repeat of the last recession, when the relationship between banks and small businesses broke down completely.”

The findings came as the Bank of England cut its official rate by 1.5 percentage points. The Government had called on the Banks to pass on the reduction to small businesses. HSBC became one of the first banks to promise to pass on the full reduction to borrowings linked to the bank's base rate.