The UK economy is expected to lose £30 billion due to the extended holiday break.

More than 30% of workers in Britain will not head back to work for yet another week as millions take advantage of coupling the Easter holiday along with the royal wedding in order to enjoy an extended break spanning 11 days. But some firms have been forced to close due to staffing shortages and analysts have said the phenomenon comes during crunch time for the UK economy.

The news comes just ahead of figures set to be released this week that will show whether or not Britain has fallen back into a recession, an effect otherwise known as a ‘double dip’. Meanwhile, reports have said that the back-to-back extended weekends have meant that some cheques will take nearly a fortnight to clear.

Recent research from Lloyds Banking Group showed that more than a third of Britons took the opportunity for the long break just as additional figures from Pricewaterhouse Coopers revealed that the UK is the world’s ‘sick note’ capital, with employees averaging some 10 unscheduled days off each year. Those in the public sector averaged even higher, about 12.2 unscheduled days off annually.

But not every industry will be slowed by the break, as travel operator TUI, the parent company of First Choice and Thomson, has reported Easter sales to be 22% higher than those seen in 2010. Likewise, Ryanair reported a booking surge 10% higher than figures seen a year ago.