Martha Lane-Fox more attractive than Reg Holdsworth

Britain's budding retail entrepreneurs aspire to emulate the online success of Martha Lane-Fox rather than the supermarket savvy of Reg Holdsworth, according to a new survey.

Over two-thirds of would be retailers said they would sell online because of the risks of a bricks and mortar operation on the high-street.

The survey of 1,000 people over the age of 25 by Ipsos, which was commissioned by ecommerce software company Actinic, claims there is a "trinity of fear" pushing the next generation of retailers from the high-street to the web.

The three main issues cited by respondents were fear of robbery, assault and other crime (61 per cent), Lack of funds (51 per cent) and not attracting enough customers (31 per cent).

Chris Barling, CEO of Actinic, said in a statement that entrepreneurs still see the web as a quick way of building a successful business.

"Britons are more than ready to make a success of online retail, as Martha Lane-Fox has proven with lastminute.com. Compare the growth of that company to, say, Thomas Cook which had no choice but to take decades growing a high-street presence," he said.

The most popular goods that people would sell online included gifts, clothes and food.