Research by Deliveroo has shown that 27% of the UK’s workforce never eat lunch.
The poll into the lunchtime habits of the country’s employees showed that only 40% always managed lunch with 75% choosing to buy something rather than bringing in food from home.
The survey of 2,000 people showed 70% now spend less than half an hour on lunch with fewer than 10% taking a full hour.
Biggest fans of the packed lunch are East Anglians and Scots where a third of workers still take a packed lunch to work. The lunch box tradition is dying fastest in London with just under 17% of employees consuming a midday meal brought from home. Those in Wales manage the longest lunch breaks with one in six taking over 45 minutes, followed by workers in the East and East Anglia, while those living in Northern Ireland have the shortest lunchtime with almost one in four taking less than 15 minutes and one in five from the East Midlands doing the same.
Overall, 40% of workers eat lunch at their desks every day and twice as many men as women get their lunch delivered.
The favourite lunchtime bite is a sandwich, followed by a salad, and surprisingly fish and chips in third place, then a burger, pizza, Chinese, vegetarian and Sushi or Japanese. Given a choice 80% would prefer a hot meal.
Kate Thomas, spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “It’s very clear that soggy sarnies, soft, mouldy fruit and warm yoghurt are a thing of the past when it comes to people’s choice of lunch. Our riders are set to drop off fantastic, fresh food for your favourite local restaurants – taking the headache out of where to get your lunch from.”
