The Bank of England has warned that ‘employment intentions’ are at their lowest for more than a decade.

The bank spoke to 650 businesses across the country, and found that employers are already beginning to cut workers’ hours, failing to fill vacancies and recruiting temporary staff.

The figures are the gloomiest since the Bank began compiling statistics in 1997.

Meanwhile, research by the Chartered Management Institute revealed that more bosses were being made redundant than at any time in the last seven years.

About senior managers are being axed, according to the survey of 40,000 executives.