Despite gripes about access to loans, charges and bully-boy tactics by some high street banks, small business customers are no more prepared to switch banks than they were before the credit crunch, a new survey finds.

Research by the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) shows that just over half of small businesses thought banking arrangements were “excellent value for money”. A third said their bank did an average job.

But many of these also said charges and arbitrary changes to lending arrangements like overdrafts and loans were still a cause for concern.

Some 16 per cent of respondents to the FPB survey said accessing finance was tricky, yet only one-in-five businesses said they would consider moving to an alternative banking provider.

The FPB said more work should be done to alert small businesses to alternative forms of funding, with a quarter of respondents saying they wouldn’t consider it, citing cost and lack of information as the main barriers.

The organisation’s chief executive Phil Orford said: "The government, the banks, other lenders and businesses support organisations are all important enablers of growth and need to work together to ensure small businesses are getting the necessary amount of money in the right format."