The BBC's Jonty Bloom says: "The news isn't all black"

The report, published on behalf of telecommunications firm Energis, says that 70% of companies are also expecting to see profits rise in the coming year, while just 6% are predicting a fall in net revenue.

The findings fly in the face of recent reports indicating that the UK is heading for a deep recession.

Ford is planning to cut production at its plant in Dagenham, Essex, and Rover is to lose 2,400 staff as part of a cost-cutting drive.

But the news is not all bad for the British economy.

Volkswagen announced on Friday that it was planning to make a £500m investment in the Rolls-Royce motor company at its Crewe plant in Cheshire.

And the latest official figures show that the economy is still growing at over 2% a year.

Exporters optimistic

The Energis report says that exporters are the most hopeful of all, with nearly three-quarters expecting profits to grow, compared with 69% for all other businesses.

Managers are more optimistic than directors about financial prospects, with 68% of the former predicting growth in turnover, compared with only 60% of directors.

The survey, carried out between 28 September and 2 October, polled nearly 600 directors and managers from companies with turnovers ranging from £1m to £500m.

The least hopeful on sales prospects were those companies with a turnover between £10m and £50m. The smaller companies were the most pessimistic on profitability, although 63% were still expecting a rise in profits.

Energis is warning business leaders against taking too black a view on the economy and of letting themselves be talked into a recession.