Only 13 percent of company bosses said they had considered shutting down their British operations and moving business activities to one of the 10 new EU member states

Fears of a large-scale relocation of British businesses to eastern Europe following the enlargement of the European Union have failed to materialise, a business group in London said. The Institute of Directors said only 13 percent of company bosses said they had considered shutting down their British operations and moving business activities to one of the 10 new EU member states. At the same time, 80 percent of companies said they had no intention of outsourcing any of their operations, despite lower operating costs in eastern Europe, the institute said. "Although there have been some high-profile examples of companies switching production to the new member states, our survey suggests that these cases are the exception rather than the rule," said James Walsh, head of European and regulatory affairs at the institute. "Britain remains a good place to do business, but there is no room for complacency," he said. The institute also found that British businesses were keen to trade with the new EU members, with 35 percent already doing business with firms in these countries, particularly those in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Firms also expressed concerns about red tape, with nearly 70 percent concerned that the recent expansion of the European Union would lead to increased business regulation. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia -- all former communist countries -- plus Cyprus and Malta, joined the European Union on May 1 after several years of tough pre-accession negotiations.