British business is “bracing itself” for a difficult year ahead, according to new research from Tink.

A recent survey by the Open Banking platform found that half of UK retailers are worried about how their business will survive the next 12 months.

Four in 10 said they were afraid of going bankrupt.

To adapt and survive, four in 10 said they were considering cutting costs across the board, with almost half reporting staff reductions and over half considering cuts to advertising and training.

The top approach to reduce payment-related costs included reducing payment acceptance fees, reported by around half, and lowering costs related to fraud and cutting refund costs, reported by over a third.

Tom Pope, head of payments and platforms at Tink, commented: “As the economic situation becomes increasingly challenging, it's important that retailers can not only manage and reduce their costs, but retain customers with services that better meet consumer needs.”

Other Many retailers have been taking steps to cut costs, including John Lewis which recently stating they would turn down lights and heating to avoid overspend.

The group, which also owns the grocer Waitrose, said it would begin operating at half lighting for the first two hours of Waitrose trading from Monday to Friday, while temperatures in its offices, branches and warehouses would be dropped by two per cent.

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