BAD news for those who rely too greatly on email to make a business impact.

Emailing and texting may be faster, but better business is done eyeball to eyeball, according to a survey of northern business leaders.

While a low price sent by email may attract fleeting attention, building enduring business relationships through regular meetings adds far greater value in the long run, according to a survey of 1,500 managing directors and chief executives, by networking organisation The Met Club, Harrogate.

Body language reveals more about a person than what they say and hurried emails can too easily be misinterpreted, often to the sender's disadvantage, according to scores of replies from company bosses throughout the North and the Midlands, including many in York and North Yorkshire.

To the question Why do you feel face-to-face meetings are important in an increasingly virtual society', one managing director replied: "You have to get eye-to-eye. The truth outs on a one-to-one basis."

Another said: "In business people buy people before they buy a product or service. This is where face to face meetings create a better first impression."

The Met Club, founded in 2002, organises informal after-work business meetings for top executives and senior managers.

The business, which stages monthly events in York, Harrogate, Yarm, Leeds, Bradford, Newcastle, Manchester and Nottingham, has more than 1,500 member national and international businesses, employing several thousand members of staff.