Businesses in the UK need to understand and begin to leverage the benefits of smarter working practices, according to the UK skills envoy and former director general of the Confederation of British Industry Sir Digby Jones.

Sir Digby is convinced that the way in which companies operate is changing and that British firms need to "come out of the dark ages" and take a new approach to their business.

With this in mind Sir Digby recently signed up to a concordat from the Work Wise UK organisation and gave his support for the trend towards smarter working.

"To be able to compete in the labour market and attract the skills they need, businesses are going to have to adopt smarter working," he said.

"This is not rocket science, it is the only way forward and the reason why I am a keen supporter of Work Wise UK and am signing the concordat today."

Work Wise UK also focuses on the potential for Britain to cut its carbon emission contribution by shifting to home-based working practices.