UK bosses hardest working in Europe

Just one third of UK bosses think board meetings useful

Britain's bosses are the hardest working in Europe, according to new research.

UK bosses

33% work every weekend

50% never see their children in the week

12% never have time to eat lunch

The report found that UK chief executives were sacrificing their home life - and their health - to meet ever-tighter deadlines.

Almost half of the UK bosses questioned never get home in time to see their children during the week.

And many suffer from poor eating patterns, with almost half saying they only have time to eat a sandwich at their desks at lunchtime.

Do Spanish have it easy?

The average UK boss works 9.5 hours a day, the survey found, while a third said they take work home every weekend.

Although the length of working day is not the longest in Europe, UK CEOs certainly make up for it by working during their leisure and meal times, often neglecting their family life and allowing their health to deteriorate.

Ian McDougal, time management consultant

Spanish chief executives, by comparison, appear to have an easy ride.

According to the report, just 12% say they never see their children in the week, while 18% said they work at weekends.

Some 12% of UK and German chief executives admit to never having time for lunch, while 82% of Spanish bosses said they always make time for a proper lunch.

UK chief executives travel less than their European counterparts and spend less time entertaining clients - an average of 1.5 hours per week, compared with the European average of 2.9 hours.

Germany topped the entertaining league table with an average of 4.5 hours a week.

Board meetings

Just four out of 10 UK chief executives thought client lunches were a good use of time, compared with 68% across all other countries.

Board meetings are also shorter in the UK, the survey found, lasting an average of 1.3 hours, compared with two hours in Scandinavia.

And only 30% of UK chief executives thought board meetings were useful for business, compared with 52% of German bosses.

Board meetings were least popular in France, with just 21% of bosses saying they were useful.

New technology

Independent time management consultant Ian McDougal said: "Although the length of working day is not the longest in Europe, UK CEOs certainly make up for it by working during their leisure and meal times, often neglecting their family life and allowing their health to deteriorate."

But the report also revealed chief executives were not making things easy for themselves - nearly a quarter said they print off emails to read rather than just reading them on screen.

The report, which was commissioned by business printer manufacturer Lexmark, commented: "Despite the mass acceptance of new technology among CEOs, it would appear there is still some residual mistrust of the electronic format."

The report looked at 250 CEOs and managing directors in the UK France, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia.