Just over one in six businesses could quit Scotland if there is a Yes vote in the independence referendum, a survey has suggested.
Research for the Scottish Chambers of Commerce found 8% had definite plans to move away from Scotland if it voted to leave the UK, while 10% said they were considering moving.
Just under half of the 759 businesses surveyed (49%) said they would change their strategy if Scotland became independent, with almost one-quarter (24%) stating they had already changed a business decision as a result of the debate about the country's future.
A total of 38% of firms said the main risk for their business was the "uncertainty over the issues or the time it will take during the transfer to independence".
However, 23% of companies said there were no risks associated with Scotland leaving the UK.
Almost two-thirds of firms backed a currency union in the event of independence, the policy favoured by the Scottish Government but already ruled out by the three main parties at Westminster, and 62% of firms said this would be "extremely positive" or "positive".
Meanwhile, 68% of firms said they backed increasing the Scottish Parliament's powers after a No vote.
Prime Minister David Cameron said it was clear firms were "actively preparing for the potential outcomes of the referendum."
A Yes Scotland spokesman said a No vote would create real uncertainty, adding: "There are major opportunities to be gained for the business community with a Yes vote, as this survey underlines."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article