The new survey was launched by the BCC in response to growing concern over the increasingly fragile relationship between businesses and traditional lenders.

Responses from 1,560 businesses across the UK showed that 50% mistrusted banks and building societies while 38% have less trust in them than at this time last year.

Despite declining confidence in traditional lenders 49% of respondents use banks and building societies as their main source of external finance and while 57% said they were confident of securing finance, 37% were not.

Only 10% of respondents reported using equity and 8% used grants, venture capital, peer-to-peer lending or angel finance schemes and of government-back lending schemes nearly half of respondents had not heard of them with micro-businesses being more likely to be unaware of state-backed options.

Jamie Nelson of asset finance provider Compass Business Finance said there was also little awareness among print companies of such schemes: "Not too many print companies are clear about the various government initiatives that may have some value them, but that’s not surprising as many of the initiatives have only been recently released."

Nelson said that although he agreed there was little trust in the banking sector many print firms were turning to asset finance because of its more flexible approach.

He added: "Asset finance is often rolled into the term "bank funding" as a number are bank owned, but many are now independent of the high street banks. The reason asset finance is lending to the new and SME market is because they understand the print market and in particular the assets being funded. Banks are too far removed to be able to take the same informed view."

BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said the whole question of funding remained a matter of major concern for the print industry.

She added: "The ability to fund major deals from UK finance streams is still challenging and banks are showing little appetite to  participate in funding risk centred mergers and acquisitions. This in itself suppresses exit multiples creating a no risk culture."

In the BPIF’s July Outlook Survey 80% of respondents said that there had been no change in access to finance over the previous twelve months and that where it was available the cost of funding continued to rise.

Woodward said: "The industry is battling a perception of a 'low return sector' where in reality those companies that are bringing innovation and added value to their propositions continue to trade well with good long term prospects that should be attractive to investors.

"This is a cross-supply chain challenge to change the perception of the industry to encourage the level of investment needed to support future growth in a multi-channel arena."

The survey also revealed that almost two-thirds of respondents would be more confident in their ability to access finance with the launch the of the planned government-backed business bank.

Robert Downes from the Forum of Private Business agreed that the business bank that was recently announced by the government was a positive move but help was needed more urgently. "The Coalition is making steps in the right direction with the business bank that was announced earlier this month, but that’s still 18 months away and SMEs need a cure now.

"We know small businesses continue to experience issues accessing credit. We have anecdotal evidence of members being forced to borrow money from friends and family to make ends meet, and even using credit cards for bridging loan purposes.

"It’s these kind of stories that reinforce the notion the banks are merely paying lip service to mending their ways when it comes to lending to small businesses. The fact is they aren’t."

Commenting on the BCC survey results director-general John Longworth said: "Financial institutions need to rebuild trust and repair damaged relationships with businesses and improve transparency.

"Regulators should look to increase competition in the banking sector to ensure businesses have more choice, and the government must ensure that plans to create a British Business Bank mean more funds available to growing businesses."

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