One in five small firms have been left with skills shortages after cutting staff to try and survive the recession, according to data released by Vodafone.

Vodafone's The Working Nation survey also revealed that 37% of businesses have had to make redundancies in the last year and 40% have regrets about some of the staff cuts they have made and the impact these have had on their skills.

"Because of the loss of skills that comes with redundancies, small firms should hang on to their talent for as long as they possibly can," said Margaret Dale, consultant at HR consultancy ECC.