To our desk-bound readers: have you noticed that those blue-sky brainstorming meetings have subdued to a sombre grey of late? Is your new product development drizzling rather than sparkling? Losing clients left, right and centre? It could be something to do with your limp, pappy office sarnies.

A new survey shows that 80% of employees think the quality of sandwiches at their business meetings has fallen. The study, by office design company Maris Interiors, found that only 4% of those questioned felt that the quality of sandwiches had improved over the last five years, with 16% noticing no change.

Employers have cut their sarnie bill by 50% as the average cost of sandwiches per person at meetings fell to a dreary £3.80, plummeting from a near £6 per person pre-recessionary height in 2006. The popular crayfish and avocado and chicken teriyaki varieties of five years past have fallen by the wayside, to be replaced with cheapo cheese and pickle and tuna and sweetcorn, which featured heavily in the new survey. "It’s a sign of these austere times that companies are spending much less on sandwiches in the boardroom," said Maris Interiors’ chairman Michael Howard. "You won’t impress a client with jam sandwiches."

If the wave of political activism sweeping the world has taught us anything, it is not to ignore the will of the people. With four in five people unhappy with their lunchtime lot, employers take note, lest you find egg mayonnaise on your faces.