Supplier companies have just two hours to get in touch with potential customers before one in three firms would take their business elsewhere, according to research by Vodafone UK.

The research also revealed that the average cost to a business of failing to respond to email enquiries is £18,000 a year, which rises to over £100,000 for one in 30 firms. The total cost of this to the UK economy is £31bn a year, Vodafone claims.

Yet despite the potential losses, the majority of companies admit they have no policy in place for following up with potential customers. Fewer than one in five has a set response time, the survey revealed, and less than a quarter of workers say they would respond to an email from a potential customer.

“Business culture and expectations are dramatically changing with the development of new technologies,” said Kyle Whitehill, director, enterprise business unit, at Vodafone UK.

“As the world becomes more demanding it is vital for business to be able to take advantage of opportunities when they arise by being flexible, responsive and available at all times.”

Four in five business admit they are not totally switched on to mobile working, the research suggested, despite the fact that more than half (56%) of those businesses actively expect their own suppliers to be able to work remotely.

It‘s not just new customers that would walk away from an organisation that cannot respond quickly to an email, the survey showed, as half of those polled said slow responses from an existing supplier would be a reason to cancel a contract.

The survey added that Glasgow was the city with the best remote working practices, with 77% of business claiming to be either fairly or fully switched on. This compares to the least switched on city Manchester, where only 48% had access to mobile working technology.