How Many Trades are offered a brew on-site?

Rhino Trade Insurance 23 December 2022

It’s a story as old as time. A customer books you in for a job, and you (the local trusty tradesperson) turn up and get set up, but something is missing. That piping hot brew to get your day started.

It turns out that you are not alone. The days when a customer would look after you well are dwindling. But it may shock you that some trades get offered tea or coffee more than others! Rhino Trade Insurance has come across data which suggests specific trades get preferential treatment, and we want to bring back the trade brew for everyone!

Tea etiquette

New research has found that the army of tradespeople in the UK are offered a hot drink almost every 2 hours and 50 minutes. This is after a survey was conducted on 2000 homeowners in the UK.

Depending on where you are in the UK matters. It’s been found that those lovely souls in the northeast offer a brew on average every 2 hours and 20 minutes (whether that’s Yorkshire Tea or not, we cannot comment).

Though if you are tending to the home of a millennial (aged between 18 and 34), you are out of luck. Data suggests they won’t even offer a cup of tea at all!

Plumbers and Electricians win the day.

Fortunately for some, it’s been found that plumbers and electricians face the same amount of tea being offered on a job. 72% of responders regularly provide a brew for those with the power and water of our homes in their hands.

The complete list of trades offered a cup of tea can be found below. We can only apologise to the hardworking window cleaners, cleaners and gardeners in the UK:

Electrician: 72%

Plumber: 72%

Builder: 70%

Painter and Decorator: 69%

Handyman/woman: 62%

Gardener: 59%

Cleaner: 47%

Window Cleaner: 28%

But what are the tactics?

No two jobs are the same, and that’s one of the best reasons to be a tradesperson. And that goes for how customers offer you a brew.

Around 32% of UK adults say they would offer a tradesperson a drink when they arrive/ before they start working. Though, a staggering figure is that only 12% are happy for the tradespeople to make their own tea - our mind is officially blown!

Perhaps (for us), the most interesting stat is that 37% of homeowners intentionally offer several cuppas in the hope of striking up a relationship with the tradesperson to guarantee a better quality job.

Should we even mention biscuits?

It goes without saying that a biscuit is the perfect British tea break snack. But with the average cup of tea being offered falling, do we hold hope for the biscuit?

Although it is by far the most popular snack to accompany your beverage, only 48% of UK households admit to offering them to their tradespeople.

For any of you out there who get a bacon sarnie or a few sausage rolls, you can count your lucky stars because those customers are in the minority.