Pubs ‘becoming second office’

A new study has found that consumers are increasingly using pubs as a work base and second office, as well as a place to have a drink.

The survey, which questioned 2,000 adults, found that almost four out five used a pub’s WiFi to stay on top of their emails. The survey also found that one in five people would send a message to their boss to give the impression that they are hard at work.

The study, which was carried out by WiFi provider The Cloud, also found that one in six of those polled had taken a video conferencing call while in a pub.

Vince Russell, managing director of The Cloud, told the Press Association: “As business becomes increasingly pressurised, workers are finding a need to connect wherever they are, whether they’re between meetings or just need to escape the busy office to get through their to-do list.

“We knew WiFi was valuable for getting reliable access to work emails or quickly downloading large documents – what we didn’t expect was that Brits do so much of this in pubs, this may reflect how pubs are changing to become more flexible spaces throughout the working day and into the evening.”