Britain does not measure up well against its European cousins on foreign languages, according to a survey by specialist language recruiter Euro London Appointments.

The survey of 116 FTSE 250 companies in Britain found that only four companies were able to answer right away in the caller’s language, while 12 asked the caller to hold and found someone who could speak the correct language, and 17 companies just hung up.

When 116 similar companies in Germany were called, 114 were able to answer in perfect English; 85 were able to answer in French, and a large number could also speak Spanish too. In France, 112 immediately switched to English and 68 were able to answer in German.