A quarter of businesses that rely on the government’s support will struggle to pay staff when the furlough scheme comes to an end in the next quarter, a business trade group’s poll suggests.

The survey from the Institute of Directors comes ahead of employers’ preparations to return staff to work on a part-time basis from August. At that point, the Job Retention Scheme will lower payments to 50% of wages, from the initial 80% provided during the Covid-19 lockdown.