Bad sleep costs UK business £1.6bn

British business is losing an estimated £1.6bn a year due to lack of sleep, according to new research.

It reveals that sleep-starved workers are taking three extra days sick leave a year compared to their well rested colleagues.

This costs UK businesses over £280 per year for every employee.

Bupa's ‘How Are You Britain?' report suggests that over a quarter (27%) of the working nation wakes up feeling tired and unrefreshed, with Sunday being the worst night of the week for a bad night's sleep.

And it also shows that the cost of a bad night's sleep is not limited to sick days.

Half of those questioned said they drag themselves into work feeling tired over 20 times a year.

It says shattered workers are 23% less satisfied in their jobs and admit to low levels of productivity (24%) compared to their colleagues.

Banking and finance is the worst affected industry, with employees admitting to feeling tired and unrefreshed on average 34 days of the working year, closely followed by education and government (average 31 days per year).

Women are 35% more likely to take time off work due to lack of sleep than their male counterparts, but gender is not the only factor that counts.

Age plays a significant role, with just 39% of employees aged 45 to 59 getting over seven hours sleep a night, compared to over half (55%) of under 29s.