British corporate philanthropy is expected to fall by more than a third over the next year as a result of the financial downturn, according to a poll of 450 business leaders released on Monday.

The survey, carried out by YouGovStone, shows that businesses are planning a 34 per cent reduction in charity donations. This equates to a drop of almost £500m, based on UK corporations giving an average of £1.4bn ($2bn) a year.