BUSINESS leaders in the Darlington area have no regrets that the UK has stayed out of Europe's monetary union, a survey has revealed.

The research, carried out by LDS Recruitment's Darlington office among its clients, revealed that 70 per cent of employers did not believe the failure to join the Euro had affected their businesses in any way, and 20 per cent believed their businesses had benefited.

The survey follows Sweden's recent vote not to join the Euro, and the UK Government's pledge to press ahead with a referendum on the single currency before 2006.

Dee Milburn, operations director of LDS Recruitment's Darlington office, said: "It is interesting to see that so many employers feel that being outside the Eurozone has had no effect on their businesses.

"But I believe that it is still very early days as far as the Euro is concerned."

Some of the six per cent of employers who believed their businesses had been harmed by Britain's failure to join the single currency dealt widely with clients within the European Monetary Union.

Some were already making payments in Euros and were concerned about commission charges.

Ms Milburn said: "Since the Euro was launched there have been 3,500 manufacturing job losses each month in the UK, and the volatility of sterling has been a major contributor to these job losses.

"We will be surveying our clients on the Euro in the future, and it will be intriguing to see if views change."

An LDS Recruitment survey earlier this year showed that employees wanted more bank holidays in line with Europe.

The company, which has offices in Harrogate, Darlington and Sunderland, specialises in temporary, contract and permanent appointments in the office, industrial, call centre and hotel and catering sectors.

It was acquired last year by Angel Human Resources and has recently changed its name from Liz Dargue Staffing.