The study found that more than a third of businesses in the UK operate from home. One in ten of these make sales in excess of £250,000 and employ ten or more people, making them economically important.

A spokesman for the University of Strathclyde said:

"There is a perception that local authorities are against home-based businesses while nationally they are dismissed as being of little economic significance. But although many are small, their size does not indicate lack of ambition or vitality - indeed, more than half (57%) of our survey respondents had increased their turnover in the previous year."