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According to a PR-generating survey by on-line travel agent Expedia.co.uk 73 percent of adults want January 2nd to be a Bank Holiday. The country may effectively shut down for nearly a fortnight over the Xmas break (although retail staff don’t get this much time off!) but thats not enough winding-down time for us Brits.
Mind you, were meant to be the hardest worked bunch in the EU. Italy has sixteen Bank Holidays a year, Germany and Spain have fourteen and France has eleven. We only get a measly eight.
More Bank Holidays means more leisure time. More leisure time means more bums on saddles.
And more Bank Holidays could boost business productivity, says the medias most quoted shrink, Cary Cooper, professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at UMIST, Manchester
"People who start work on January 2 feeling tired after their New Year festivities could end up suffering from acute post-Bank Holiday depression syndrome as a result because they are returning before they are fully revitalised.
"This situation cannot be good for business since it may lower productivity levels. Having an extra day off on January 2 could have significant long-term benefits."
But, of course, this wouldn’t be a day off for retailers. Bank Holidays can see the tills ringing nicely so shop staff will still be expected to fight their way in to work should Tone ever grant the UK an extra Bank Holiday.
