“Across a wide variety of sectors, wellbeing has improved dramatically for staff and business productivity has either been maintained or improved in nearly every case,” says Ryle.

“We’re really pleased with the results and hopefully it does show that the time to roll out a four-day week more widely has surely come.”

Around 2,900 employees across the UK took part in the pilot. According to The Guardian, staff who were surveyed before and after the trial said they were 39% less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% said it was easier to balance work and home responsibilities.

The number of sick days taken during the trial also dropped by about two-thirds and 57% fewer staff left the firms compared with the same period last year.

The findings from the trial will be presented to MPs on Tuesday in a bid to push politicians to give all workers in Britain a 32-hour week.

The 4-day work week: “breakthrough” trial hailed a success as firms plan to extend it