Packaging Federation chief executive Ian Dent said: "If it generates greater awareness of Europe, it can only be a good thing. People ought to be more engaged, so if it creates greater recognition that we are part of mainland Europe, that is all to the good."

BPIF director of corporate and external affairs Cicely Brown said: "We have to start seeing ourselves as doing business in our own single European market rather than seeing Europe as an export market. "We hope the referendum will involve the government spending appropriate amounts on promotion and explaining the issues."

Reactions from the industry were more mixed. Litho Supplies managing director Gerry Mulvaney dismissed the PM's volte face as mere political expediency. He said that, if anything, the decision pushed a referendum on a single currency even further away.

Cooper Clegg chairman Ian Cooper asserted a referendum on the constitution was "absolutely essential".