According to entrepreneur Martin Webb, who runs four businesses and presents the Channel 4 show Risking It All, the enforced holiday usually leaves him "bloated, bored and exhausted".

But this year, he says he's used the break to take a "real, honest, gritty look at what I do".

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said:

"I'm starting 2007 enthused and happy. I have a new sense of direction and a revived sense of purpose. I'd urge all other entrepreneurs to sit down with whatever you need to get the creative juices flowing and take a hard look at where you are.

"Look at what you've done, your ups and downs, mistakes and triumphs. Be brutally honest about yourself and those around you. If other people do things better than you, recognise that fact and learn from it."