Research from ELAS suggests that the combination of wintry weather, commuting to and from work in the dark, Christmas credit card bills and a long wait until the next holiday makes Monday, 6 February the day Britons are most likely to call in sick.

However, according to the organisation the number of days workers award themselves for a bout of fake illness is falling as the economy falters, with most staff now only daring to spend one day away from the office.

Peter Mooney, head of employment law at ELAS says, ’We have been keeping a close eye on absenteeism for years, and there has always been a sizeable number of skivers who, having phoned in sick once, award themselves a second day to make their illness look more believable.

'But in the past 12 months, a combination of the stuttering economy and managers finally grasping the nettle over absenteeism has seen that particular trend end.'

While the number of people suspected of throwing sickies continues to grow steadily, the length of time they’re off work is falling fast, adds Mooney.

Based on its monitoring of absenteeism nationwide, the company estimates that as many as 400,000 UK workers will ‘throw a sickie' on Monday.

Mooney continues, ‘You might expect that those people lucky enough to have a job in the current economy might do everything within their power to keep it, but our research has found that that’s not the case.

‘If anything, the constant doom and gloom about struggling businesses and public sector cuts seems to make people more likely to treat themselves when they can – and an unofficial day off work is one perk many people feel they’re entitled to from time to time.’

According to a survey of 200 IT professionals, two thirds of IT projects fail because the brief changes after the project has begun. Furthermore, two thirds of respondents say they have been involved in IT projects which have not been as successful as they could have been.

Despite IT budgets continuing to be constrained, meaning that when IT projects are given the go-ahead it is even more imperative that they are made a success, still many are failing to set a sufficient brief to avoid failure.

Statistics from the British Computer Society show that between 1998 and 2005 across the European Union only one in eight IT projects were considered successful. The rest were cancelled, suffered significant cost or time overruns.

Thomas Coles, managing director of MSM Software says, ‘Software projects are resource intensive and complex, and have a reputation for being both expensive and risky. This reputation is all too often validated by an abundance of projects failing. Yet, the failure of an IT project due to a changing brief is completely avoidable.'

Coles believes that the success rate of IT projects would be significantly increased if businesses and suppliers worked more closely, and transparently, at the discovery phase of a project.

‘By doing this, long-term business processes can be established and technology designed specifically to support the individual business requirements. Collaborative working in this way is fundamental as the success or failure of a software project can also determine the future (or failure) of a business,’ he adds.

The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 52.1 in January, from a revised reading of 49.7 in December.

Contributing to the performance was output expanding at the fastest pace since last March, new orders rising following a period of contraction and payroll numbers stabilising. Cost pressures continued to ease, as average input prices fell for the third straight month.

Manufacturing production also expanded for the second successive month, supported by growth of new orders and the clearance of backlogs of work.

Foreign demand rose for the second month running in January, amid reports of improved order inflows from clients in Brazil, China, the Middle East and the US. However, the rate of increase was only moderate and less marked than one month earlier.

Average input prices declined for the third successive month in January, with the rate of deflation the steepest since June 2009. Manufacturers reported lower costs for commodities, metals, packaging, paper, plastics and timber.

Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit says, ‘January saw manufacturing kick-start back into life, with output expanding at the fastest pace since March 2011 and new orders rising for the first time in seven months.

‘Growth is nowhere near the surging highs of 12 months ago, but this is nonetheless a vast improvement on the 0.9 per cent reduction in output seen at the end of last year.’

According to insolvency trade body R3, 29 per cent of smaller businesses saw shrinking revenues in Q4 compared to Q3, with just 6 per cent of large businesses reporting the same.

The research also finds that more than one third (34 per cent) of SMEs are experiencing decreased profits on the quarter compared to 19 per cent of big businesses.

R3 president Frances Coulson says, ‘The government has created a number of schemes to support SMEs as they are vital to the health of the economy, but they need more help to survive this difficult economic environment.

‘It is clear that many SMEs are not financially robust enough to withstand the economic pressure. Either more support is needed in 2012 to enable a real recovery, or some businesses will inevitably fail rather than continue to limp along, damaging competition.’

Across the board, fewer businesses (58 per cent) report seeing ‘signs of distress’ than the last quarter (68 per cent) and significantly less than December 2010 (77 per cent).

The report also finds that businesses able to make and receive online payments are faring better than those that can’t. Some 39 per cent of those that can’t use online payments are experiencing decreased profits, compared to 25 per cent of those that can.

Furthermore, 34 per cent of those who can’t use online payments have seen a reduction in sales volumes, compared to only 19 per cent who can.

The four point improvement in the GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Index, based on respondents’ personal financial situation and economic outlook, is in contrast with the fall in GDP and the widely-reported journey back into recession.

A few rays of light have started to reach long-suffering consumers, including falling inflation and the recent reduction in energy prices.

Nick Moon, managing director of GfK NOP Social Research says, ‘The Index is sometimes subject to non-economic influences, and the uplift may simply reflect a hangover from the Christmas feel-good factor.

‘If this is true, we should be on the lookout over the next few months for a possible bounce from the Olympics as well.’

However, Moon adds that while the Royal Wedding last April triggered a sharp rise in consumer confidence, it ‘dissipated completely’ within a few months.

‘Consumer confidence is still seriously depressed and we should treat this month’s modest improvement with caution. Should February show another rise then we may be seeing signs that the gloom is dispelling — until then we should treat January's findings as good, but certainly not great, news,’ he continues.

The payment performance of UK companies moved from an average of 26.17 days in Q3 2011 to 25.97 days in Q4.

Firms with 101 to 500 employees paid their invoices three quarters of a day faster than in the previous quarter (from 25.84 days to 25.07 days), while firms with more than 501 employees improved by two thirds of a day (from 34.77 days to 34.12 days).

These businesses also led the way in improvements when compared to their payment performance in Q4 2010. Firms with more than 501 employees settled their invoices almost two days faster while firms with 101 to 500 employees improved by almost three quarters of a day, from 36.06 days and 25.79 days in Q4 2010, respectively.

Jason Mills, head of payment performance at Experian UK & Ireland says, ‘Payment performance is the timeliest indicator of the current health of any business, so the overall improvement suggests that during the last three months of 2011, pressure on cash flow and finances was more manageable for most businesses.'

The warning from accounting software company Kashflow comes as an influx of businesses are struggling ahead of the final deadline for submitting tax returns.

A recent survey of 500 small businesses found that one in ten business owners admitted to missing tax return deadlines. With 4.5 million small businesses in the UK this means that 450,000 small business owners are likely to miss their tax return deadline at the end of this month, with the smallest fine incurred for missing the deadline £100 for being just one day late.

Duane Jackson, founder and CEO of KashFlow, says, ‘I find it truly astonishing that in today’s climate such a huge amount of money is being put at risk by UK business owners. As a small businesses owner myself, I understand the plethora of pressures faced by businesses today, yet adding another financial burden by missing a deadline will only worsen the strain in the long run.'

Will Farnell, director at accountancy firm Farnell Clarke adds, ‘When it comes to accounts, it can be easy for small business owners to neglect time consuming and cumbersome jobs which require manual completion. But I believe these bad habits need to be challenged.’ 

According to the latest monthly CBI Distributive Trades Survey covering the first two weeks in January, 44 per cent of retailers saw sales volumes fall on a year ago, while 22 per cent reported a rise, giving a balance of -22 per cent.

Retailers reported that sales were disappointing for the time of year, with a balance of -20, and orders were also down (-14), with firms expecting levels to fall again next month (-23).

Most sectors reported a fall in sales volumes on a year ago, including hardware & DIY (-80) and non-specialised retailers such as department stores (-34).

However, grocers saw a modest increase in sales (+6), following a much stronger trading period in December (+52). The non-store category, which includes online and mail-order, performed well (+50).

Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty says, ‘Shoppers have reined in spending across the board at the start of the New Year after taking advantage of early discounting last month, which boosted pre-Christmas sales.

‘Consumers are still holding off particularly from buying big ticket items like washing machines and fridges. Online and mail order sales were the only areas that performed well in January, but growth was still down on last month.’