Saturday 27 February 2021

Revealed: the UK Tradespeople who Drink the Strongest Tea


Tradespeople are famous for their tea breaks, but now new research has revealed which trades have the strongest brews. 

  • The average UK tradesperson drinks three cups of tea per shift, or 15 a week

  • Bricklayers have the strongest brews; plasterers have the weakest 
  • Electricians have the most tea breaks 

The study, conducted by IronmongeryDirect, the UK’s largest supplier of specialist ironmongery, asked 500 UK tradespeople to pick out their favourite shade of tea from a colour chart, and it was revealed that bricklayers have the strongest drinks.  
 
Plumbers and builders followed closely behind in the rankings, who also prefer their drinks on the darker side. 
 
At the other end of the scale plasterers have the weakest tea of all tradespeople, with joiners and landscapers not too far behind. 
 
The UK tradespeople which have the strongest brews are: 
  1. Bricklayers
  2. Plumbers
  3. Builders
  4. Electricians / Carpenters
  5. Painter and Decorators / Building Surveyors
  6. Landscapers
  7. Joiners
  8. Plasterers 
However, it is electricians who drink the most of it. Nearly half (45%) of those in the electrical trade have four or more cups of tea a day. 
 
In contrast, builders and landscapers drink the least, with almost two in five (38%) having just one or two tea breaks a day. 
 
The average for UK tradespeople is three drinks per shift, totalling 15 cups a week, but this varies by region. Workers in Sheffield and Edinburgh have the most tea breaks, averaging nearly four per day, while those in Belfast have the fewest. Nearly three in five (57%) tradespeople in the Northern Irish capital stop just once or twice for a brew. 
 
As well as generally favouring stronger drinks, the research also found that tradespeople tend to like their brews sweet. The most common way to take their tea is with two sugars (28%), with plumbers being the most likely to have a sweet tooth. Nearly two thirds (63%) of them have at least two spoonfuls. 
 
Interestingly though, despite the stereotypes, it seems that tea is slowly going out of fashion amongst tradespeople. Each passing generation is drinking fewer cups than the last, with 18-to-24-year-olds having by far the lowest average of all the age groups, and over 65s the highest. 
 
The young workers who do drink tea are considerably more likely to have sugar than their older colleagues. While nearly half (46%) of the 18-24s surveyed have two or more spoonfuls, this drops as low as 17% among 55-64s and 19% among over 65s. 
 
Dominick Sandford, Director and Head of Merchandising & Marketing at IronmongeryDirect, said: 
“Most people will offer tradespeople a hot drink as soon as they enter their home, but it’s interesting to see that this long-standing tradition may be dying out, with younger workers drinking far less tea. 
“Our research has shown that some trades tend to have far stronger brews than others, so if you’re making a drink for a bricklayer, maybe leave the teabag in for longer if you’re unsure! 
“However, how people have their tea is a really personal thing, so it’s always best to ask for their preferences.”  
For more information about the research and for advice on how to make the perfect cup of tea, visit: www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk
 
 
[1] Survey of 500 UK tradespeople conducted by The Leadership Factor on behalf of IronmongeryDirect in January 2021. 
 





Why not Sign-up to Receive these Articles by Email each Day on our newsfeed site

>> Scroll down to read more articles like this which have been published recently on this blog <<

You can also read additional current and archived articles on our dedicated magazine website

Low Cost and Free Publicity - Your company can easily benefit from some publicity like the posts above for a contribution towards our layout costs (£60 to £80 plus VAT), payable in advance or you can receive the service absolutely free of charge if you advertise (see below).

We post articles up to twice a day and never delete them - we only archive them each year so that they continue to remain visible to search engines.

To have your story published - just send us your news item, logo and image(s) and we will review the material, make any necessary changes to the wording / wordcount and then advise you when it will be published.

If you are a regular advertiser in our printed and online publications, placing series bookings for adverts or subscribing to our VIP Packages, you will qualify for a specific number of free postings on this blog while you continue to advertise with us. See our media pack for more details.

Also, if you purchase one of our Online and Print Combo packages, Featured Articles or Advertorial packages shown in our media pack, posting on this blog is included in the price.

For details and rates for all of our advertising options in print and online, download our media pack contact us or visit our website.

Door Industry Journal is a trading style of Avalon Innovations LLP - Company No. OC364751

No comments: