NEARLY half of East Anglia s small business owners and managers spend their annual summer holiday worrying about work according to new research. Rather than taking a well-earned break and making the most of the chance to recharge their batteries, 48 per c

NEARLY half of East Anglia's small business owners and managers spend their annual summer holiday worrying about work according to new research.

Rather than taking a well-earned break and making the most of the chance to recharge their batteries, 48 per cent of East Anglia's entrepreneurs - including those in SME-rich Huntingdonshire - are too worried about what is going on back at the office.

And it seems that the worry doesn't stop when they are back in the country, nearly a third (32 per cent) of East Anglia's owners and managers spend up to 20 hours outside of working hours thinking about their business, according to Bibby Financial Services. An additional 19 per cent spend up to 10 hours outside work thinking about business matters.

Despite today's work-hard, play-hard culture, over three quarters of owners and managers spend their evenings fretting when they should be enjoying the reprieve from work, with more than seven out of 10 still worrying when they get to bed.

The converse of this rather depressing piece of research for those who are about to take their summer break is that more than half will forget about work and get on and enjoy it.