IT contractors may be required to help UK businesses finally get a proper handle on the management of email.

According to the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) Europe, many companies are not storing emails correctly - even those with a full enterprise content management solution.

The group's managing director Doug Miles said everyone involved in the IT industry was partly to blame for allowing the current situation to develop.

"What is the one reason you need a strategy to manage information before it's too late? It's because without one your business is going to miss out big time," he said.

Mr Miles went on to say that without proper organisation of this stored information, IT departments across the UK will be left in "content chaos".

His comments come after industry leaders met at the AIIM Roadshow 2010 to discuss strategies for improving efficiency and better control over information.