Billions lost due to late tradesmen

Waiting for tradesmen costs British business £2.2billion a year.

New research shows that we take 190 million hours off work every year to accommodate unreliable workmen.

The study found more than three quarters of tradesmen were up to two hours late.

More than half the 2,100 people surveyed said that they expected to be away from their desks for up to five hours to wait for tradesmen.

Some 16 per cent anticipated waiting for more than seven hours - 41 per cent of workers said they were simply given a "morning" or "afternoon" time slot, while 37 per cent were told the workman could turn up at any time on the given day.

Kate Syred, business manager for Direct Line Home Response 24, which commissioned the research, said: "The visiting times offered by many tradespeople are inflexible, rarely fall outside working hours and can leave us stuck at home waiting for hours."