A growing number of UK businesses are becoming more impatient over email response times, according to a survey conducted by Vodafone.

The Vodafone Critical Response Time Index survey, now in its second year, revealed that a third of UK businesses expect an email response to their new business enquiries within two hours. However a growing number of businesses are expecting a response within half an hour, with owners claiming the lack of response within that time is costing an average of £18,840 in lost business.

In addition, more than a third (36 per cent) of UK workers have cited stress and conflict in the workplace cause by lack of access to email while on the move, rising to 48 per cent for those working in London.

The survey also revealed that 58 per cent of employees believe that all workers will need mobile access to email in the future, and three out of ten employees suffer stress when coming back to work after a meeting or holiday and finding a full inbox.

Mark Bond, enterprise business unit director at Vodafone UK, said: “This year we have seen mobile email access, more than ever before, become an essential piece of the business armoury. This survey clearly demonstrates that the way we approach our work is changing and businesses need to move to address that change.”