Small firms must do more to protect themselves against the impact of the credit crunch, one industry body has warned.
According to Philip Moody, the Forum of Private Business's senior member services representative, SMEs are better placed than their larger competitors to cut costs.
This is because they are more flexible than bigger firms, he stated.
Mr Moody said: "Due to this economic downturn, many businesses are contacting us to find out if they can make savings through our various discounted services, which are proving very popular."
Firms should be looking to make savings in a range of areas including utilities, card processing, purchasing, payroll services, software rental and many others, he added.
Last week, a report by the Hay Group found that 26 per cent of managers have not made plans to deal with the current economic downturn.
A further 18 per cent stated that they have only just begun to do so.
