The recession has had a deeper than expected impact on IT professionals, with 82 per cent of a cross-section questioned by The IT Job Board admitting they have considered going it alone.

A total of 490 IT professionals were questioned by the job organisation, which revealed that 52 per cent believe that now would be an ideal time to set up their own business.

However, when pushed if they would 'take the plunge' a further 52 per cent of those questioned said they would not establish their own business, with 40 per cent citing financing as a barrier to entry, and 37 per cent believing there were too many risks attached.

Interestingly, 44 per cent of those questioned had already set up their own companies, with 35 per cent doing so because they had lost their job. Eighteen per cent did so because they had 'always wanted to'.

Jamie Bowler, head of marketing at The IT Job Board, said: "I was amazed to hear that more than three quarters of those interviewed have – at some stage – considered setting up their own IT business. This is probably down to the job uncertainty that still exists in the sector.

“Already large numbers of IT specialists have established their own companies, and the survey indicated that many of them had been led to doing this through redundancy. It is positive to see that, in spite of this, they are continuing to focus on growing and continuing to establish the UK IT sector.”