According to top business professionals, the humble biscuit plays an integral role in influencing company directors, entrepreneurs and budget holders at boardroom meetings.

Research by Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, part of IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), revealed that the quality and type of biscuit presented in a meeting can make or break a deal.  In what is considered the first ever "Business Biscuit Study", Holiday Inn surveyed more than 1,000 business professionals across the UK.

More than half - 58% - of those surveyed said the biscuits served in a meeting can "positively influence a company's first impressions", with a massive 80% stating that biscuits improve the quality and outcome of a meeting.  

Those in the legal profession are most likely to be influenced by a good quality biscuit (67%), followed by sales, media or marketing professionals (65%).  Some 59% of public sector workers agreed that biscuits can have a "favourable influence" during a meeting. 

Overall, nearly half (47%) of those quizzed thought that it was very important to serve biscuits during a meeting, with almost two-thirds (64%) confessing that the quality of biscuits on offer was a matter of note or discussion.

Surprisingly, biscuits were also deemed the second most important aspect of the boardroom, behind only tables and chairs, and were prioritised over lighting, technology and artwork.

According to the data, biscuits - or the absence of them - can help highlight the meeting agenda particularly when breaking bad news. A strong 42% of those surveyed indicated that they would not serve biscuits if they were about to fire an employee.  However, the chocolate digestive was singled out by 18% of professionals as the top biscuit used to soften the blow when delivering bad news. 

However, research also showed that in certain circumstances, biscuits are totally off limits.  Almost half (49%) of businessmen and women would decline a biscuit when presenting, with 28.2% revealing they would refuse the biscuits if they looked too crumbly. Nearly a quarter (24%) would wait until someone more senior than them had one before joining in.  Just nine percent of women and 17% of men would take a biscuit whatever the circumstance.