A growing number of people may need ink supplies for machines that can be used for both business and personal purposes, as the number of home offices in the UK is growing.

It was noted by Smart Growth Analytics that Surrey is the area of England and Wales where this form of working is most popular, with 27,000 such workspaces, accounting for five per cent of the workforce.

Other locations where home working is popular include Hampshire and Hertfordshire, while two-thirds of the top 25 list complied by the organisation are in or around the south-east of England.

Principal analyst at Smart Growth Analytics Jim Plunkett-Cole stated: "The findings demonstrate the economic importance of home offices in regional economies across the country."

Rural areas may be especially able to benefit from these solutions, he continued, which highlights the need for good infrastructure to enable this, particularly high-speed broadband connections.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Cisco revealed 22 per cent of UK firms are expecting to implement flexible working practices during this summer's Olympic Games, which could allow many people to work from home in order to avoid increased congestion in the city.