Nearly 7 million Brits planning on calling in sick after World Cup matches could lead to a hit of at least £2.4 billion for the UK economy. But it could also be a good boost for the nation’s pubs, new research reveals.
Jamie Allsopp
A survey by family brewing firm Allsopp’s found one in five (20%) people in the UK plan to pull a sickie after at least one World Cup match. That’s equivalent to 6.88 million workers.
If each of them goes ‘sick’ that after every England group game, that could rise to a £7.3bn hit — or £16.9bn if the Three Lions reach the final.
On top of sickies, more than one-third (36%) of respondents admitted they don’t plan on ‘wasting’ annual leave to watch the World Cup, instead opting to ‘work from home’ after a late night. Unsurprisingly, nearly half (44%) of Brits think employers should be more relaxed with work start times, increasing to two-thirds (65%) among 25- to 34-year-olds.
Rather than staying at home or attending the tournament, 38% of the people surveyed would rather watch from the pub with their friends. This rises to more than half (52%) of 25– to 34-year-olds. In fact, one in five (19%) people said they would rather skip a game entirely than watch it alone at home.
To accommodate the late kick-off times, pubs can stay open until 1am for England or Scotland matches that kick off between 5pm and 9pm, and until 2pm for kick-offs between 9pm and 10pm. England’s campaign begins against Croatia on Wednesday, at 9pm.
Pubs are expecting a bumper trading period this summer thanks to the World Cup. The British Beer and Pub Association estimates 55m additional pints are likely to be poured if England make it to the final — an average of an additional 1,240 per venue.
“While people pulling sickies to watch the World Cup and hungover staff working from home might not be great news for employers, the drive towards pubs has been sorely needed for the hospitality sector,” said Allsopp’s Jamie Allsopp.
“This is going to be one of the biggest weekends ever for pubs, and it comes at a crucial time when VAT has been choking the industry and we’ve been calling for fairer rates.
“But what our research really shows is that people don’t just want to watch football — they want to watch it together, in a pub, with their mates. That’s not going anywhere and it’s particularly encouraging to see young people are keeping that spirit alive with their World Cup plans.”
• Survey results are based on a sample of 2,000 nationally representative people surveyed in the UK between 25th and 28th May by Censuswide.
