Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), says: ‘Britain is suffering because our managers and leaders are simply not up to scratch. We need to put pressure on political parties to understand the impact bad management is having on the UK’s profitability and the huge part they have to play in addressing the issue.’

Some 47 per cent of employees say they have left a job due to bad management, while 49 per cent say they would take a pay cut to work with a better manager, according to CMI research.

Spellman adds: ‘Only one in five managers hold any type of professional qualification and managers are no longer regarded as professional, competent or accountable.’

According to the National Strategic Skills Audit the UK will need 2.2 million new managers by 2017.