One in three businesses will take their custom elsewhere if a potential supplier does not get back to them within just two hours, according to research from Vodafone UK.

The study found that business owners and managers also say that the average cost to a business for not responding to email enquiries is on average £18,000, exceeding £100,000 for one in 30 UK businesses, equating to more than £31bn in lost revenue per annum across the UK.

It found that fewer than one in five businesses have a set response time and simply leave emails unanswered, less than a quarter of workers say they respond to an email from a potential customer and one in 10 confess to responding to emails from friends and family ahead of work-related items.

The study found that 85% of businesses have experienced no response to a new business enquiry and one in 10 say this happens frequently.

Kyle Whitehill, director, enterprise business unit, Vodafone UK, says: "Business culture and business expectations are dramatically changing with the development of new technologies. As the world becomes more demanding it is vital for business to be able to take advantage of opportunities when they arise by being flexible, responsive and available at all times."

The study found that Manchester is the worst offender at setting policies for answering new business emails, Glasgow has the best remote working practices in place and Plymouth was found to be the most impatient city.