A MORI survey for the CBI published on Monday found jobs such as technical support, back office services and human resources were most likely to be outsourced to low wage economies.

More than 40 per cent of company bosses told researchers they felt under pressure to relocate jobs to countries with cheap Labour.

Malcolm Bruce, shadow DTI secretary,said:"Britain is still an attractive place to do business, but constant vigilance is required on the amount of regulation and business taxation to ensure British industry remains competitive.

"With EU enlargement imminent, the government must act to ensure British investment and competitiveness is enhanced. There should be sunset clauses on all new regulation so that the government must justify any continuation, and business get a regular chance to argue for removal.

"Flexible regulation, less government interference, and greater innovation would be the watchwords of a Liberal Democrat enterprise policy. What industry needs is not handouts, but a vibrant, educated workforce and a strong, reliable infrastructure. Small business people are beginning to recognise that the Lib Dems offer a fresh and invigorating approach."

Forum Response:The Work Foundation

Nick Isles, deputy director of advocacy, told ePolitx.com:"It's important that the government focus on creating as stable an external environment for business to operate in as possible.

"There are obvious concerns around our transport infrastructure, regional skills policies and some aspects of business support. However The Work Foundation's year long business-led inquiry into productivity - The Missing Link: From Productivity to Performance - clearly showed that it is the way companies manage across five core areas of business that will lead to higher performance across the board and help keep highly skilled people in the UK economy.

"British companies on the whole need to become more aspirational and more adaptable. government, for its part, needs to focus on those parts of the external environment like our transport infrastructure that are not up to the mark."

Forum Response: Economic and Social Research Council

Lesley Lilley, senior PR and parliamentary officer, told ePolitix.com:" The best public policy is grounded in an understanding of people and their social and economic behaviour. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's premier funder of high quality independent research contributing to economic competitiveness, effectiveness of public services and policy, and the quality of life.

"Investing over £76million a year in social science research, the ESRC supports 2,000 researchers within academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences, thereby nurturing the researchers of tomorrow. The ESRC is an independent body which was established by Royal Charter in 1965."