Forget suited and booted executive stereotypes. Instead it’s mainly tradespeople, engineers, educators and technicians that are on the move in the UK.
According to BTA report, based on Censuswide survey of 1,000 travelling UK employees from small businesses to large multinationals, respondents working in automotive and those who are skilled tradespeople travel the most frequently for work, making multiple trips per week (34% and 30% respectively).
This compares with 8% of those who work in finance who travel multiple times per week for work purposes.
The most popular reason for traveling for work amongst respondents is networking and client meetings (30%) while the other top reasons include:
- Project work (28%) – particularly for those in the finance, marine, and R&D sectors
- Events and conferences (28%) – with hospitality and entertainment professionals frequently on the move
- Site visits (27%) – especially in offshore and gas industries, where over 50% of surveyed workers travel for this reason.
The Beyond the Boardroom report also found that 62% of trips taken on average were domestic and that cars are the favoured mode of transport.
According to the poll, 30% of respondents prefer cars for domestic travel. More than a third (37%) said greater connectivity would make rail more appealing and 54% said the same for reliability and 51% pricing.
Nearly three quarters (73%) say rail is better than car travel for environmental impact, and 69% say it offers greater productivity on the move, but these benefits are being overshadowed by high prices, poor reliability, and patchy connectivity.
“The outdated perception of business travel as just a London-based, suit-wearing executive hopping between cities isn’t just wrong – it’s damaging,” said BTA CEO Clive Wratten.
“Our research has shown that the majority of travelling for work is domestic and it powers our economy. Big cities often have better services, as seen in London, but the same cannot be said for all regions, with areas in the North and Midlands suffering from fragmented services.”
