Business confidence in the UK has been hit by the recent credit crunch, with 15% of bosses believing the economic crises had hit company sales.

According to the quarterly business opinion survey from the Institute of Directors (IoD), just 4% of bosses are now more optimistic about their firm’s prospects than they were three months ago.

Back at the start of August, 24% had said they were feeling more confident about their business prospects.

But the IoD said there was a discrepancy between how people think the credit crunch is affecting their business and the reality.

“Actual business performance remains high,” said Graeme Leach, chief economist at the IoD. “The key question now is whether optimism will bounce back because, if it doesn’t, business investment could be hammered.”