Confidence among UK entrepreneurs has been hit by the recession, with many of them looking to the internet as a way to slash costs and make their businesses more efficient, according to Kleinwort Benson, the UK private bank.

The Kleinwort Benson UK Entrepreneurs Survey 2009 revealed that 76 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises plan to increase their use of e-marketing in 2010, more than half (53 per cent) viewing an online presence as critical.

Small and medium-sized businesses, including those run by families, are becoming an increasingly important strategic focus for private banks such as Kleinwort Benson, Investec and Coutts, as they see SME managers not just as corporate customers, but as private wealth clients in the future, as when executives sell off their firms or hand over to a successor.

The Kleinwort Benson UK Entrepreneurs Survey 2009 gives us some clues as to the mindset of entrepreneurs in the face of the recession and has given Derek Wright, Kleinwort Benson’s "head of Entrepreneur Initiatives", cause for great optimism.

“While 72 per cent of our respondents concede that their confidence in generating business growth has been dented by the recession”, with more than half (51 per cent) seeing no pick up until the final quarter this year or 2011, “they remain positive”, said Mr Wright.