The survey, carried out with over 500 business decision-makers in companies of 51-1000 employees in the UK, found that 60% expect double-digit growth for their company in 2016 yet more than seven out of 10 admit that to some extent, excessive admin is actually slowing the growth of their company down.

Decision makers at large SMEs (between 251-1000 employees) claim to spend an average of 92 minutes on admin tasks every day, falling only slightly to 76 minutes at small SMEs (250 employees or fewer).

The most issues included administrative tasks (59%), email communication and management (50%), vehicle management, such as fuel expenses and claims (32%), and taxing and insuring company vehicles (32%).

If they could recoup the time spent on admin, 61% of those surveyed would choose to do something that had a direct effect on the company’s bottom line. Over a quarter of those surveyed (26%) claimed that they would find and engage with new suppliers, one in five (19%) would deal with customer retention and one in six (16%) would pursue new business opportunities.

Matt Dyer, managing director at LeasePlan, commented: “It is concerning that such a high percentage of decision makers believe administrative tasks are having a direct impact on company growth. Talented people, hired for their expertise in sales and business development, should not be wasting their time on excessive admin. Having an understanding of which administrative tasks end up being unnecessary time drains and removing them from the task list should hopefully have a more positive effect on business growth.”

Dyer continued: “There are so many services available to help businesses with everything from vehicle ordering, maintenance management, arranging insurance, mileage management and monitoring vehicle efficiency. With these time-drainers removed, business decision makers have more time to focus on the job they were hired to do and strive for the 10-40% growth that so many of those surveyed are striving towards.”