Cost of hidden ‘kettle tax’ revealed to UK firms.

• The average employee boils the work kettle 759 times each year.
  
  
• Each worker costs their company £71 per year by making a tea round.
  
  
• Over half of British workers unhappy with the temperature in their workplace.

British workers are each costing their employers £71 every year – from making regular rounds of tea.

That's the shock finding of new research* conducted on behalf of energy comparison site SwitchMyBusiness.com, which discovered that an average employee makes three tea rounds per day – or 759 kettle boils per year, at an average of 2.5p** per boil.

The findings point to an annual 'kettle tax' for employers of £71 per employee, with a company needing just 20 members of staff, doing their usual tea rounds, to rack up a yearly kettle bill of almost £1,500.

Those members of team, who can't work without their morning coffee cost the business £127 each, per year. Again, with just 20 workers, employers fork out £2,550 a year.

Tea and coffee annual bills ***

Ivan McKeever, CEO of Switchmybusiness.com, said: “It's interesting to see just how much tea rounds can cost businesses. To cut their bills, employers need to encourage their teams to perform energy saving techniques such as only boiling as much water as they need and only heating or cooling a room when needed.

“Even unplugging the kettle, or switching off at the plug, can save few pennies – and those pennies add up to pounds at the end of the year."

In other findings, more than half of employees admitted to being unhappy with the temperature in their workplace, with almost a quarter reported feeling too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter.

A further fifth are always too warm due to the heating being permanently switched on, while 11% reported being too cold due to the air-conditioning being on at all times.

- Ends-

Notes for editors

*One Poll surveyed 2000 UK adults aged 18 and over, between 8th and 10th December 2015.

**Based on average price per full kettle 2.5p, according to npower.

***Average price of tea - 200 bags per pack - £8.99/200=0.045. (4.5p)

Average price of a coffee - £8.99 per 750g - two teaspoons of coffee is 10g. – 10x8.99/750 = 0.12 (12p)

Average price of sugar £2 for one kg. One teaspoon is 4g meaning 4x2/100 = 0.008. (0.8p)

Average price of a pint of milk is 45p. There is 20ml in average tea/coffee. 20x0.45/568=0.015 (1.5p)

Average price of soya milk is £1.30 for 1L Having 20ml in average cup of tea or coffee. 20x1.30/1000=0.026 (2.6p)

Average price of almond milk is £1.80 for 1L. Having 20ml in average cup of tea or coffee. 20x1.8/1000=0.036 (3.6p)

Switch My Business has created the Eco-Save Office where you see just how much of an impact leaving appliances switched on has on business energy bills: https://www.switchmybusiness.com/eco-save-office

About SwitchMyBusiness.com

SwitchMyBusiness.com are a commercial energy comparison & switching service, specialising in small and medium businesses in the UK.

For further information, please contact

Phil Windas

Phil@switchmybusiness.com

07920 805162