Failing to answer the phone or forcing callers to communicate with voicemail systems is costing British business £22bn a year, according to new research.

This will be uncomfortable news for recruitment companies, which carry out so much of their work on the phone.

The online survey of 30,000 office workers, carried out by the technology firm Siemens, found that employees only managed to get through to the right person 60% of the time.

But in the other 40% the people they wanted were on the other line, in a meeting or away from the office.

The survey estimates that workers waste half an hour every day picking up phone calls for their absent colleagues.

In recruitment, a missed call could well turn out to be a missed fee.