German firms top for complaints

Forget Vorsprung durch Technik. German firms are the most likely to let you down.

Forget Vorsprung durch Technik. German firms are the most likely to let you down.

Despite being famed for their efficiency and work ethic, German companies attract the highest number of customer complaints while their employees take the highest number of sick days.

Italians are the least likely to send out defective goods. And the British have the highest pre-tax profit margin.

A survey of small businesses in Europe looked at firms in nine countries and measured their performance against each other in key aspects. Britain comes top of the table, scoring the highest marks in 20 of the 70 categories.

Among the other findings are: British manufacturers are least likely to go bust because they have enough liquid assets to cover their liabilities. But the UK service sector came last in this category. British companies attract the lowest number of complaints. Portugal and Spain have the lowest pre-tax profit margin. German and Greek firms are the most likely to plough their turnover back into the company, while British companies are the least likely to do so.

The findings by Reacte, the first European benchmarking report, will be published tomorrow.