A BURY business leader has backed the "wait and see" stance of many UK companies when it comes to Britain adopting the euro.

And members of Bolton and Bury Chamber contributed to a recent survey which showed that 35 per cent of British businesses would give an immediate green light to joining the euro zone while 13 per cent say the UK should never join under any circumstances.

The survey, led by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), concluded that half of UK businesses, 49 per cent, want the Chancellor to wait and see how the euro develops before joining. This is even if the five economic tests are satisfied.

Andrew Ratcliff, chief executive of Bolton and Bury Chamber, said: "Although the survey shows that few businesses want to rule out entry to the euro altogether, they will clearly need more convincing that it is the right thing to do, even if there is a positive outcome to the five tests. If the Government wishes to adopt the euro within this Parliament, then it is going to have to produce more evidence of its benefits."

The telephone survey, conducted by MORI, covered 1,005 firms of all sizes and all sectors. It revealed that larger companies with 250 or more employees and those trading internationally take a more positive stance with 46 per cent and 42 per cent respectively supporting swift adoption of the euro.

Smaller companies are less positive with 50 per cent of firms employing between one and 19 people thinking the UK should wait and see how the euro develops before making a decision.

Invited to comment on the impact of euro membership on a range of factors, a majority of businesses felt they would be more heavily regulated (68 per cent), more highly taxed (54 per cent) and that the Government would have less control of the UK economy (63 per cent).

The survey also disclosed that 52 per cent felt that exports would improve, 43 per cent believed that inward investment would rise and 48 per cent concluded that business competitiveness would benefit with euro membership.

The survey also shows that only 40 per cent of respondents have made preparations for using the euro as a foreign currency although this figure rises to 70 per cent for businesses trading internationally.

Only 32 per cent of members have made any preparations for using the euro as the UKs currency although this figure rises to over half of those businesses trading internationally (55 per cent) and two thirds of businesses employing more than 250 people (64 per cent).