Small business owners are becoming more confident about the state of the British economy, according to a new poll.

In a survey of London-based SME owners conducted by the London Evening Standard, 45 per cent of respondents agreed that the economy has improved in the last six months and 53 per cent tipped it to improve throughout the rest of the year. This was a far more positive result than in the last survey, conducted in July.

With London home to the majority of Britain’s SMEs, the survey provides a useful view of overall business confidence in the UK.

Kerry Agiasotis, who is chief commercial officer at Western Union Business Solutions, believes that the results highlight substantial improvements in the British economy.

Speaking to standard.co.uk, she said: “It is clear that the cautious optimism we started to see build in Q2 has only gained momentum. For the first time, we are seeing a very real, meaningful recovery in confidence among the capital’s SMEs.”

The Confederaton of Business Industry (CBI) has suggested that this increased business confidence has resulted in more firms seeking out finance for growth.

Speaking to stockmarketwire.com, the body’s director-general John Cridland suggested that SMEs were becoming keener to seek out alternative sources of finance, as well as traditional bank loans.