Nearly one million UK businesses could benefit from a new bank holiday, according to a new TUC report out today (Friday). The TUC are calling for a ‘Community Day’ bank holiday in late October to celebrate and encourage volunteering and community activity.
The TUC report - Why the UK can afford a Community Day – says that many customer-facing businesses, such as those in the retail, hospitality, leisure, tourism and transport sectors, have stronger trading days on bank holidays and could benefit from a new public holiday. These sectors have grown over the last forty years and now account for nearly a million UK businesses – over one fifth of all UK businesses – according to the Government’s VAT registrations.
In sectors likely to benefit from a new bank holiday, consumer spending has grown from 31 per cent of household income in 1971 to 39 per cent in 2005. A new bank holiday will therefore help to continue this spending boom, says the TUC report.
The report says that, as well as encouraging people to go on holidays and short breaks, bank holidays lead to more ‘days out’, which bring in £90 billion worth of spending a year to the economy in England alone.
In addition to the revenue benefits of a new bank holiday, the TUC report argues that all employers would benefit from the improved productivity, morale, health and well-being that it would give staff. The TUC believes these benefits vastly outweigh the cost of an extra day off work.
After the August bank holiday, workers in the UK will have a four month wait for the next bank holiday on Christmas Day. The TUC, along with leading voluntary organisations, are calling for the Government to break this gap with a ‘Community Day’ in late October. Community Day would celebrate the great British tradition of volunteering and encourage people across the UK to take part in community activities.
The TUC estimates that if ten per cent of the population took an active role in Community Day, the ‘on the day’ effect of greater community activity would be worth £250 million. Furthermore, the TUC estimates that the longer term benefits of people taking up volunteering could double the day’s economic value to £500 million.
In order for a new bank holiday to be successful, the TUC believes that businesses, community groups and trade unions would need at least a year to prepare. So, even if the Government committed to a new Community Day today, the earliest it could realistically come into effect would be late 2010. According to the Bank of England’s most recent quarterly inflation report, the UK economy is expected to have recovered by this time and businesses would therefore be well placed to benefit from a new public holiday.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “A new bank holiday would be very popular for Britain’s workers, who have fewer public holidays than anyone else in Europe except Romania. But it could also bring in much needed revenue to around a million UK businesses.
“So far, business lobby groups have stuck to their usual position of opposing anything that benefits staff, including a new bank holiday. But we urge these organisations to think outside the box and recognise the benefits that a new bank holiday could bring to many of their members.”
