Research For T6 Water Dispenser Reveals: The Tea Run That Takes 188 Days

Dec. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- That’s a staggering 188 days and 21 hours spent idling by the kettle over a working lifetime, according to a study for the T6, the hot and cold filtered water dispenser.

New research reveals that nearly four in ten people do a tea or coffee run for work mates at least twice a day and almost one in five boil a kettle for fellow workers once a day.

With an average salary of £26,000 a year, it means workers rack up £416 a year in lost productivity waiting for the kettle to boil.

For a company of 35 people, that adds up to more than £14,500 lost a year, while for a company of 600 it's a massive quarter of a million pounds.

The study for the T6 found that four in ten people make tea, coffee or another hot drink for more than one work colleague every day.

Around one in seven people (15 per cent) shun the daily tea round and only make a drink for themselves when at work.

Under-30s increasingly prefer to nip out of the office to get their caffeine shot from the local Starbucks or Costa coffee shops – with four in ten saying they do this.

Suspicious employers even believe that some workers regularly volunteer for the tea and coffee run just to shirk their work duties.  

Up to one in nine of the under-30s (11 per cent) go out to buy a round of trendy lattes or cappuccinos on an almost daily basis, the T6 study revealed.

Agneta Sjödin, marketing director for the T6, which polled 1,000 Britons nationwide, said: “It's incredible to think that on average, the tea run accounts for nearly 190 days of your working life.

“Workers waiting for the kettle to boil are wasting their own time and costing firms a fortune in lost productivity. It adds a whole new dimension to the old saying that a watched kettle never boils.”

In London, the takeaway coffee culture has become a status symbol with one in ten adults (13 per cent) preferring to indulge in a luxury takeaway over a free cup from work.

More than one in two (53 per cent) Brits now buy coffee when out and about rather than tea (19 per cent), according to the T6 research.

These results are taken from a survey of 1,000 UK adults conducted by Online Opinions during 8-14 November 2010.

The calculations have been based on the following:

There are on average 253 working days a year in Britain.
We work an average of 43 years over a lifetime.
There are 7 hours in the average working day.
The average annual wage in Britain is £26,000.


About the T6:

The T6 sits on a counter top and as it is mains fed, there is an instant supply of water, with no need to wait for the kettle to boil or rely on bottled water. It is so called because its makers, Strauss Water, believe it will become the sixth indispensable kitchen appliance.

A double carbon block removes odours and tiny particles, and reduces chlorine in order to improve the taste of the water. A UV lamp finishes the purification process and destroys any micro-organisms present in the water supply. The T6 has an LCD screen, sleep and standby modes and comes in 12 different colours to fit any office decor. It is approved under the Water Regulation Advisory Scheme.

For more information about the T6, visit: www.t6water.co.uk

T6 media contact Crispin Slee: crispin.slee@stickofrock.com, 020 7183 6854 or 07540 059985
For pictures of the T6, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/groups/t6/
For video, please see: http://www.youtube.com/t6waterdispenser

About Strauss Water:
Strauss Water is an innovative provider of drinking water systems with a 30 year heritage in the UK.

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