The British weekend starts on Friday
- Brits spend more than anywhere else in Europe to have a great weekend
- Men more likely to lie about their weekends than women
- A fifth of Brits cite their jobs as getting in the way of enjoying their Saturday and Sundays
London, UK – 9th October 2014
As Brits up and down the country get ready for the end of another hectic week at work, new research from Budget Car Rental reveals that the weekend officially starts at 10:19am on Friday, just over one hour into the working day.
The survey of 7,000 adults across seven European countries, reveals that spending the weekend with friends and family tops the list of what constitutes a great weekend, with over half (56%) of Brits valuing time with loved ones. A spot of good weather goes a long way, with more than two fifths (43%) appreciating weekends more when the sun is shining, followed by going somewhere we’ve always wanted to go (36%).
Brits have admitted they're willing to shell out £162 to pay for a great weekend, more than anywhere else in Europe. In fact, such is the desire to impress others, 12% of Brits admit to lying about their weekend affairs, with men 5% more likely to embellish their stories than women.
A whopping 78% of Brits have a more positive outlook on life following a great weekend; over half (55%) are friendlier to colleagues, 45% feel more productive when they walk into the office on Monday morning, whilst over a third (35%) of work-hard play-hard Brits confess to needing a day off to recover. Despite this, Brits consider just one out of every seven weekends to be ‘great,’ with almost one in ten (9%) claiming to have had no great weekends in the last year at all.
Work is the biggest culprit getting in the way of a great weekend, with a fifth (20%) claiming their jobs stop them from having a good time. Almost half (44%) of all Brits admit to thinking about work at the weekend, whilst more than a quarter (26%) check their work emails throughout the weekend. Getting stuck in a routine also effects Brits’ ability to have a great weekend, with nearly half of the population (47%) confessing to getting stuck in the same weekend routine and over quarter (27%) revealing they can’t remember the last time they had a completely new experience. Perhaps for this reason, the Sunday Blues takes hold for over a third (38%) people across the country.
"The conclusion from our research is obvious: we should all try to make the most of our weekends, whether that be making the time to spend with family and friends or heading off on an adventure to somewhere we've always wanted to go" said Mark Servodidio, Managing Director for Budget. "More than half of the respondents said they wished they had more freedom in their lives and would like to try new things. With Budget, every weekend is an opportunity to try something new, without it costing a fortune."
Notes to Editors
Research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Budget.
Sample size and definition: 7,090 online interviews with adults in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK
Additional Information
For more information, please contact the Budget Press Office on 0207 025 6699 or budgetpressoffice@redconsultancy.com
About Budget
Budget Car Rental is one of the world's best-known car rental brands with more than 3,000 locations in more than 120 countries. Budget is an industry leader in providing vehicle rental services to value-conscious travelers and also operates the second-largest truck rental business in the United States, through a network of more than 2,100 corporate owned, dealer and franchised locations. Budget is owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), which operates and licenses the brand throughout the world. For further information, visit www.budget.co.uk.