In addition, 65% of those surveyed said they expect to increase their use of social media to employees, customers, investors and influencers over the same period.

But 30% of those responsible for investor communication admitted that they didn’t currently use any of the main digital and social channels, while 30% of those responsible for communicating with employees said the same.

Social media was the key worry among decision-makers in terms of digital communication: 16% said they were poorly prepared compared with 11% for digital. Around half in each category – 54% for digital and 50% for social – said their business was well prepared.

The study was conducted for Gather by YouGov among 752 British business decision-makers in manufacturing, construction, financial/accounting, retail, IT, telcos, marketing, legal, medical and education with an additional 12 in-depth interviews.