Why Do Londoners Pay More for Business Travel?
When you ask someone for words they associate with London, one of them is bound to be ‘expensive’. It’s not exactly cheap to live and work in the capital of the United Kingdom, but is travel any different? If going to another major city for a meeting with a client such as Leeds, Manchester or even further away in Glasgow, a train ticket could cost upwards of £100 for a return journey! Why do Londoners pay more for business travel?
Even for trips to other parts of London or somewhere just outside the capital’s boundaries, the costs can add up over the course of a week if going to at least a couple of meetings. Even with a comprehensive public transport network, journey times can be pretty lengthy too, especially when taking traffic congestion into account.
Why Do Londoners Pay More for Business Travel? – A Price to Pay
A survey conducted by PowWowNow on attitudes to remote working nationwide discovered that, on average, UK workers spend £53.20 per week on travelling to and from meetings. The regional averages varied greatly though, with London-based office workers spending a weekly average of £65.76. By contrast, the figure for East Anglia was a more reasonable £40.44. Looking at the figures at the top end of the scale, 31 respondents said they spend over £200 per week on travelling to meetings, 14 of those 31 people were also London-based.
Aside from the tickets themselves for the bus, train or any other form of transport, for longer journeys, other costs might be incurred. It might be necessary to pay for food and drink while on the way to a meeting, while Wi-Fi access might be another necessity, especially when trying to catch up with emails.
Clearly this is a case of supply and demand when it comes to public transit prices. Is there a way to save money here if you happen to live or work in London?
Why Do Londoners Pay More for Business Travel? – Is there an alternative?
There is still a chance that every worker who is client-facing will have to go to a meeting at some point, but remote working could be a good alternative to going to and from the office on a regular basis. Travel remains a major bugbear of many workers, making working from home seem pretty tempting, especially as many commuters spend upwards of one hour each day travelling.
The time and money spent on travelling could be put to good use elsewhere. Providing that everything is in place to meet someone without leaving the living room, the large expense that comes with travelling to meetings could become less of a regular occurrence.
Why Do Londoners Pay More for Business Travel? – How to get your boss to let you work from home?
If saving money and time on business travel appeals to you, check out my book review of The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. In this book, Tim gives you step-by-step plans on how you can convince your boss to let you work from home. If you are able to put his tips into practice, you will get more work done, save time and money on travel, and have more personal time to do what you love!
In this day of global working everyone works on the phone and remotely and in their pyjamas. I’m only being facetious, but the paradigm is shifting.
debs (@debtdebs) recently posted…Curve Balls – When You Are Hit With Unexpected Financial Events
Debs,
You’re exactly right – you really can save a bundle if your job allows you to work from home!
Even though working from home is ideal, a lot of businesses aren’t willing to go that route yet. It’s unfortunate because people could really benefit from saving on that transportation cost.
Sher@KNSFinancial recently posted…Car Withdrawal and Sher’s Blog Medley #6
Sher,
I know! As long as you are getting the work done, it seems like it should be OK. Maybe it is just a cultural thing that will shift as our overall workforce gets younger and more tech savy…