Four Out Of Five UK Businesses Would Support Extra Bank Holiday

The Orange Business Jury, conducted by Ipsos, polled 587 decision makers in Britain's small businesses to get their views on whether an additional bank holiday should be introduced in the UK and what the likely impact would be.

The Orange Business Jury, conducted by Ipsos, polled 587 decision makers in Britain's small businesses to get their views on whether an additional bank holiday should be introduced in the UK and what the likely impact would be. The results show that:

  • Four out of five UK businesses (82%) would support the introduction of an extra bank holiday between now and the end of the year
  • Nearly three quarters (72%) feel that there is no competitive advantage in having fewer official holidays than other EU countries
  • Only half of British businesses (50%) are aware of the terms of the EU Working Time Directive and there is a mixed response on whether the directive will be good for business. Of those aware, 42% said the directive will be good for business, 40% said it would not be good

The good news is that only around one in seven business leaders were working this bank holiday weekend (15%). 40% will be relaxing at home and a lucky few (8%) will be sitting on a beach. Just over one in ten will be doing some DIY (12%) with the remainder (23%) doing other things such as shopping or watching a movie.

Commenting on the results of the poll, Neil Laidler, Vice President, Orange Business Services UK said: "We ran this poll as a fun way of looking at how the bank holiday affects UK business. The results give an emphatic signal -- that bank holidays are good for business. It's great to see that an extra bank holiday will not impede business performance or reduce the competitive edge. The latest mobile technology means that business leaders can now run their businesses from practically anywhere, including sitting on a beach."

Technical details

The Orange Business Jury is a panel of over 1000 small business owners, managers and decision makers working for companies with up to 250 employees. The panel is run by Ipsos. The survey is conducted using The 3rd Degree software tool, via SMS, and allows a fast response to issues as and when they affect the small business community. The study was conducted on 24th August 2007. The response rate was between 50% and 55% for the questions asked.

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