Although the majority of small businesses are satisfied with the service they get from their bank, more must be done to improve customer service, a survey from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has shown.

As many as 70 per cent of small businesses are satisfied with their banks, a signal improvement on the situation a couple of years ago when banks were referred to the Office of Fair Trading for their treatment of small businesses, FSB financial affairs chairman Mike Cherry commented.

But "there is a long way to go before small businesses get the quality of service from their banks that they need and deserve", he added.

Small business staff believe that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often receive poor customer service from bank staff who do not understand the needs of small businesses, the study revealed.

A wholesale "culture change" is needed, it suggests, to refocus banks towards SMEs, which contribute fifty per cent of the country's GDP and employ 58 per cent of the UK's private sector workforce.