More than half of Eurozone businesses outside the financial services industry have no plan to survive the brewing debt crisis across the bloc, according to accountants at PwC.

The advisory firm conducted a survey of 400 non-financial businesses in the Eurozone revealed a lack of planning and the adoption of a “wait and see approach”.

Seven in 10 respondents said they expect the area to change “in a major way”, with 19% prophesising a “total collapse”, a quarter predicting a two-tier zone with fewer countries and 14% expecting the exit of one or more countries.

PwC said the failure of many organisations to add these factors to risk assessments was worrying, despite nearly half of respondents expecting a general improvement in the zone’s fortunes over the next 18 months.

Colin Brereton, economic crisis response lead partner at PwC, said: “The companies best placed to capitalise on eurozone opportunities are those that manage to position themselves ahead of the curve and are proactively monitoring markets and industries, as well as leading and driving the planning and delivery of the changes required throughout their business.”

“All businesses need robust and up-to-date contingency plans to cope with the increasing number of potential scenarios. In this context, our findings reveal a real and pressing need for structured planning processes to be put in place and tested.”