Managing directors are being forced firmly down the flexible working route to survive the economic downturn, according to research commissioned by BT Business.

The research, carried out by the Centre for Future Studies, was in response to Ipsos MORI and RIM research that revealed UK businesses are trailing their European counterparts when it comes to offering employees flexible working. Less than half (46 per cent) of UK businesses offer flexible working, compared to 86 per cent of Spanish firms, MORI claimed.

Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business, said: “Flexible working is clearly no longer the luxury option. Businesses can thrive through their ability to respond to customers promptly, whether from their desk, the train, the home or hotel room. In the current climate, the most flexible businesses are better placed to respond to their customers and partners. Those managers can rest easy on their summer break.”

BT’s research also highlights how working flexibly with the right technology has real business benefits. Almost half of the UK’s small businesses (48 per cent) have won contracts through their ability to stay in touch any time/place/where. But this is still lagging behind the European average of 62 per cent, BT claimed.