THE demand for the 24-hour society has dramatically increased with 82 per cent of busy small British businesses admitting to having to operate round the clock to satisfy customers' needs.

And 28 per cent of small and medium firm have missed out on deals by being unavailable day and night, according to a new survey.

Managers agreed that today's businesses must provide services outside the traditional 9-5 hours in order to remain competitive with 62 per cent of businesses "strongly" advocating the importance of being on call day and night.

Both businesses and customers expect 24-hour service, with businesses expecting banks, IT experts, office equipment and maintenance companies to stay open all hours.

Ryan O'Neill, product manager of Business Direct, the Cooperative Bank's telephone banking arm, said: "Our finding's show a greater expectation of a 24-hour society. Businesses and customers expect immediate answers and are eager to embrace time-saving devices, such as telephone and internet banking, to allow them family time as well as time to grow their business."