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PI Brief Update

The Eagle Has Landed! Coffee, Croissants and Counter Schedules - Simon Readhead QC, 1 Chancery Lane

19/03/17. How much do you spend on lunch? The answer for the average Briton is £53,844 during their working lives. Across a 40 year career another £40,128 goes on other workplace costs including coffees, teas, colleagues’ birthdays and work nights out.

Two recent studies will prove useful for counter schedulers seeking to justify discounting claims for loss of earnings, relying on Eagle v Chambers (No. 2) [2004] EWCA (Civ) 1033; [2004] 1 W.L.R. 3081, to take account of and reflect the “costs of working” saved.

On behalf of Nationwide Current Accounts, 2,000 UK office workers were polled between 19 and 23 December 2016. The results (http://www.nationwide.co.uk/about/media-centre-and-specialist-areas/media-centre/press-releases/archive/2017) revealed that the average office worker is likely to spend £1,003 per year on office life – and many are not very happy about it!

Pet dislikes include buying secret Santa presents (40%), chipping in for teas and coffees (41%) and paying for stationery (71%). But office workers are, on the whole, a sociable lot. Most (72%) are willing to contribute to a colleague’s leaving card and present (72%) or for an office birthday (72%). But we do our socialising at work. On average we spend more per year on coffees, teas, sweets and treats at work (£130.68) than we do on nights out with colleagues (£102.24).

These sums do not include travel - or lunch!

In one week Britons collectively spend £955,375,385 on lunch.

This information is contained in a January 2017 study by the discount website Voucher Codes (http://www.vouchercodespro.co.uk/) which polled 2,356 people in full time work from around the UK. The results revealed that on average we spend £4.75 per day on lunch. Most of us (71%) also buy lunch when we are at work rather than bringing in food from home. It also appears that the sandwich has had its day. When asked about their typical working lunch respondents said salad (27%), pasta / rice (23%), sandwich / baguette / wrap (19%), soup (14%) and fast food (11%).

Food for thought – for counter schedulers and everyone else!

Simon Readhead QC
1 Chancery Lane

Image ©iStockphoto.com/Paperboat

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The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

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Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.