POOR management in Yorkshire has cost the region nearly £8.77 billion.

That is the controversial finding of a detailed study which flays Yorkshire's bad managers for wasting about 22 per cent of time through poorly planned and managed work or inadequate supervision of workers.

But it has brought an instant negative reaction from business leaders, including Len Cruddas chief executive of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce who demanded: "Where is the proof?"

Nimble Thompson, chairman of the 2,500 member Yorkshire Institute of Directors, also challenged the figures, describing them as "over the top."

The study, by Proudfoot Consulting and The London School of Economics, points out that the cash lost through inefficiency is equal to 9.2 per cent of the nation's entire gross domestic product.

Kevin Parry, chief executive of Proudfoot Consulting's parent company, the MCG Group Plc, said: "Managers are being asked by the Treasury to step up performance in a national bid to increase productivity growth by one quarter of a percentage point per worker, per annum. This target is way too low in our view".

He said: "Poor labour productivity not only costs the region's firms dearly in profitability, it also has a wider macro-economic impact - both in terms of wealth and our competitiveness with the emerging economies of China and India.

"If executives, unions and the DTI focused collectively on reducing the two main causes of wasted working time we identified, the local and, in turn, national economies would receive a huge boost."

But Mr Cruddas, of the 800-member York and North Yorkshire Chamber, said: "It seems they started with a conclusion and made a link to bad management without any proof.

"The world of business is far more complex than this link suggests. Of all the factors that influence lost money, management ability is only one.

"But for every business in Yorkshire that loses money through bad management there is one that makes money through good management."

Mr Thompson said the study's findings seemed an extreme, over the top criticism of the region's managers.

He said: "But if these figures do stack up then it is certainly something that we should take on board and look into exactly what we can do to improve them.

"Compared to our European neighbours, it's true to say that our productivity is low.

"We need to understand that a 24/7 mentality doesn't necessarily produce the best results. We could all benefit from working smarter rather than harder, and achieving that boils down to better education. A big part of the problem is that managers get too caught up in the day-to-day aspects of running a business; there is not enough focus on taking management out of the workplace to explore how they can work more effectively."

Updated: 10:54 Monday, October 17, 2005