Business And The Euro 1999

• Data weighted by sector for businesses with fewer than 11 employees, and by sector and the number of businesses in size bands for businesses with 11 or more employees
• Sample size - 251 interviews with businesses with fewer than 11 employees, 750 with 11 or more employees
• Fieldwork conducted 29 September - 20 October 1999
• Respondent: Chairman / MD / Main Board Director / proprietor
• * = 0.5% but greater than zero
• Base = All respondents unless stated
• In 1998, 753 interviews were conducted with businesses of 11+ employees

Q1 Do you think the economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next 12 months?

Q2 Over the next 12 months, do you think that your organisation's business will improve, stay the same, or get worse?

Q3 On balance, do you think that the interests of British business would be best served if Britain stayed in the EU, or if it withdrew?

Q4 How well informed do you feel about what the euro will mean for your business?

* In 1998 the question read - "How well informed do you feel about what the euro will mean for your business when it is introduced elsewhere in the EU?"

Q5 And, how much impact has the introduction of the euro in January 1999 had on your business?

Q6-Q8 I am now going to read out some things that people have said might happen if Britain does join the European single currency. For each one I read out, please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree?

Joining the euro will lead to a loss of independent decision making in Britain

Joining the euro will lead to an increase in interest rates in Britain

Joining the euro will increase the stability of the British economy

Q9 If Britain were to join the single european currency, do you think it would be good for Britain's economy, it would be bad for Britain's economy, or it would make no difference?

Q10 And thinking now about your own business, which of the following do you think will be best for your company at the present time - joining the euro as soon as possible, joining the euro after the next general election, or never joining the euro?

Ask if should join Euro / should remain out of Euro

Q11 Why do you say that ... ?

Q12 To put it a slightly different way, which one of the following statements best reflects your point of view?

Q13 If the UK decides not to join the euro for the foreseeable future, do you think that it will make your company more likely to invest in Britain, less likely, or will it make no difference to your company's plans?

Q14 Is your company currently taking any action in response to the launch of the single European currency?

Base: All

Q15 What action have you taken/are you taking?

Base: All taking action (336)

Q16 At present, the rate of the euro to the pound is around 0.64 or 1.56 euros to the pound which is roughly equivalent to 3 Deutschmarks to the Pound. Thinking about your own business, if Britain were to join the single European currency at this rate of exchange, would the value of the pound against the euro be too high for your business, too low for your business or would it be about right?

Base: All

By roughly what percentage would you like to see the pound fall against the euro?

By roughly what percentage would you like to see the pound rise against the euro?

Q17 And if Britain were to decide not to join the single European currency early in the next century, do you think that interest rates would be higher, lower, or about the same as they would be if Britain were to participate in the euro?

Q18 How likely do you think it is that your organisation will regularly use a single European Currency and coinage in your business by the year 2010?

Q19 Do you think that the Government will make its decision on whether or not to recommend that the UK joins the euro, mainly on political grounds or mainly on economic grounds?

Q20 And do you think that the Government should make its decision on whether or not to recommend that the UK joins the euro, mainly on political grounds or mainly on economic grounds?

Q21-32 For each of the following, can you tell me how much you trust their judgement on whether or not it would be good for Britain to join the euro ...

Total Percentages

In the tables below the results for all 1001 respondents on key questions are shown using different weighting approaches. 'Number of businesses' reflects the total number of businesses in the UK, employment factors in the level of employment within each category of business and turnover takes into account UK turnover.

Q3 On balance, do you think that the interests of British business would be best served if Britain stayed in the EU, or if it withdrew?

Q9 If Britain were to join the single European currency, do you think it would be good for Britain's economy, it would be bad for Britain's economy, or would it make no difference?

Q10 And thinking now about your own business, which of the following do you think will be best for your company at the present time - joining the euro as soon as possible, joining the euro after the next general election, or never joining the euro?

Q12 To put it a slightly different way, which one of the following statements best reflects your point of view?

Technical details

The MORI / Financial Times survey was conducted among chairman, managing directors and other main board members of UK businesses. Two surveys were carried out between 29 September and 20 October 1999.

The first was with businesses with over 10 employees -- directly comparable with the 1998 MORI / FT study. 750 interviews were carried out, stratified by business size (i.e. number of employees). Results were then weighted to the profile of businesses with 10+ employees by size and sector. This provides a robust sample with a high degree of statistical reliability.

The second survey was with businesses who employ 10 or fewer staff, weighted by sector to the profile of UK small businesses. This allows comparisons to be made between the views of these smaller businesses and the larger ones interviewed in the first survey.

In addition to presenting the two surveys individually, results were calculated for all UK business -- combining the results of both surveys. This was done in three ways.

The first combines the results from the two surveys and weights them to the profile of all businesses. The effect of this is that the views of a Chief Executive of a multinational corporation are given a considerably lower weighting than those of a small one-man business, as much as reducing the CEO's weighted responses to as little as 2%. This is because there are many more small businesses in the UK and they represent almost nine-tenths of the sample weighted by businesses.

This approach does not take into account that a large corporation may employ more people. A second weighting scheme gives a weight according to the number of employees, a third approach takes into account turnover.

In the overall results the maximum and minimum weights given to any one respondent in our survey are as follows;

• Methodology