More than half of workers in Shropshire are stressed-out and cannot stop thinking of their job when they get home, a survey has found.

The results of the survey come as Apprentice chief and multi-millionaire businessman Lord Alan Sugar dismissed bosses of struggling small businesses as “moaners” who “live in Disney World”. Shrewsbury-based Chi Holistics carried out the survey at a Shropshire Chamber of Commerce Speed Networking event.

The company also opened the questions to business leaders through Twitter and Facebook in an attempt to get a more accurate picture.

The survey showed 65 per cent of respondents admitted they’re more likely to do a job themselves to make sure that it’s done properly.

Other figures showed 58 per cent of respondents admit to frequently taking work home with them at night and 65 per cent said they find themselves thinking about business even when they are supposed to be relaxing.

But Lord Sugar, who was appointed as the government’s “enterprise champion” earlier this year, claimed failing businesses were the result of bad management.

The businessman told delegates at a conference for small to medium businesses in Manchester yesterday: “I can honestly say a lot of problems you hear from people who are moaning are from companies I wouldn’t lend a penny to. They are bust. The moaners are bust. They are bust and they don’t need the bank – they need an insolvency practitioner.”

Helen Goodall, founder and director of Chi Holistics, said stress could have a negative impact on business and cost a company highly due to absenteeism and having to hire temporary staff. She added stress levels had risen during the recession.

She said: “The results were interesting and show that while many stress symptoms like headaches and feeling tired on waking aren’t widespread, others, like tightly controlling work output, are frequently experienced. The results suggest that business men and women are suffering from significant levels of stress.”