Searching for documents is costing UK small and medium-sized firms £42m per day in lost revenue, new research claims.

A survey commissioned by document management firm Invu and conducted by YouGov revealed that managers and directors are wasting valuable time trying to locate documents that may have been misfiled, moved or simply lost.

The figure of £42.2m is extrapolated from the fact that there are 4.5 million SMEs in the UK and that 80 per cent of managers and directors waste up to one hour (worth an estimated £88 on average) of their time per day looking for documents.

The cause of this inefficiency is paper; just seven per cent of SMEs have 91 per cent or more of their documents saved electronically.

George Derbyshire, chief executive of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, said: "This research is quite frightening and is an example of how everyday inefficiencies can have a very damaging effect on small businesses.

"It is vital to prioritise on a daily basis, but it is also important to take time out to review your processes and systems to ensure that they are supporting you, not holding you back."

David Morgan, chief executive at Invu, added: "It is shocking to think that managers and directors in SMEs are wasting valuable time that could be spent developing their business.

"Document management is now very accessible to even the smallest business. For as little as £1 per day per user this problem can be eradicated."