Spare a thought for small business owners this Christmas, three in four of who will be working through the festive break, with around half spending three hours a day behind desks, at shop counters and on project sites.

That’s according to new research published by accountancy software business Xero, which also revealed that 17% of small business bosses will take no time off at all.

“These results highlight that even during a time like the festive season, it isn’t possible for most of them to switch off altogether,” said Xero managing director Gary Turner.

The results of the survey also revealed marked demographic differences in the attitudes of older and younger business owners.

More than seven in 10 respondents aged between 45 and 54 said their priority was to boost profits, while, conflictingly, nearly 40% also said they needed to work on giving themselves more free time.

Meanwhile, in the 18to-24 age bracket just 35% were obsessing about the bottom line and only 17% thought a work-life balance boost was in order.

Turner added: “Annual leave is one of the many employee benefits that small business owners sacrifice, because it could have a detrimental impact on the bottom line.

“Getting a good work-life balance is very tricky, but it’s really important that we all switch off occasionally. It’s a question of balance.”