Only a fraction of leisure and hospitality businesses are looking to cut jobs in the new year, with 89 per cent of companies either looking to recruit new blood or keep current staff levels.

A study from banking giant Santander shows that only 5 per cent of small and medium-sized UK companies in the leisure and hospitality sectors plan to shed jobs during 2010, with a quarter (24 per cent) looking to create new positions.

The figures seem to buck the trend of job cuts across other industries. The overall number of unemployed people in the UK has reached a 14-year high of nearly 3 million.

Steve Pateman, head of Santander Corporate Banking, said: "SMEs have proved remarkably resilient throughout the recession despite considerable difficulty.

"It is encouraging to see the confidence recorded in our report may be translated into jobs."