The research also found there was a net reduction in staff rates, equivalent to 1% of headcount at the companies surveyed.

This was, the report said, a cost reduction exercise but also an adjustment to "lower volumes and reduced profitability".

Economist David Ross, author and compiler of the report, said: "Of the 90 respondents, 41 said the quarter was poorer than expected. The responses of several [companies] clearly indicated they were in distress and begged the question as to whether they would survive into 2009."

The report revealed that the economic slowdown had had an effect on capacity with 74% of companies working below capacity over the last quarter - the highest third-quarter figure since 2002 – although this was a sequential reduction from the 87% reported in the previous quarter.

Increased prices were reported at the highest level since October 1995, however Ross said that this was "solely a reaction to higher costs, not an attempt to rebuild ever-narrowing margins".

Many were, however, looking ahead with optimism with 32 of the 90 respondents predicting that margins would rise in the coming quarter and a large majority predicting that volumes would rise in the run-up to Christmas.

Ross concluded: "If the current economic conditions prevail beyond Christmas, there is a danger that the industry will see some of the toughest conditions since the early 1990s recession."

Does your experience of the last three months match the survey? Leave your comments below.