UK businesses need to invest more time in planning for the future and the problem is particular marked among small and medium-sized businesses.

That's the conclusion of David Robertson, chief executive of Bibby Financial Services, the specialist provider of business cash flow solutions.

He made his observations after figures from the Department of Trade and Industry showed almost 90% of firms spent less than two hours per week planning ahead.

"Once business are up and running it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. While many work hard to produce a winning business plan at the onset – identifying where the business is going and how it will get there – the document often sits dormant once it has served its initial purpose."