It’s 5.42pm — Beer O’Clock!
It’s that moment when the clock-watchers in offices, shops and building sites up and down the country put another week of toil behind them and head out… to the pub. They switch off their computers and tills, or down tools, say their goodbyes, grab their things and head for the exit and their local.
So soon after escaping the rat race for another few days at least, they have their first pint of the weekend in their hands. And it’s always the best-tasting pint of the week, isn’t it?
Today, thanks to a survey of our readers, the PMA can exclusively reveal the precise moment when the minute-hand ticks over to Beer O’Clock; when — on average — the nation’s drinkers raise that first glorious beer to their lips. That most wonderful moment is… 5.42pm.
It’s the time when pub licensees can fling open their doors and ready their staff in anticipation of a grateful wave of custom. Although, as usual, it’s not quite that simple. For individual pubs, the post-work rush (or trickle, depending on your location and pub type) ranges from 5pm on the dot to 7.30pm.
There are also some notable regional differences to consider. Northerners take their first sip at 5.37pm, those in London and the south-east at 5.41pm, Welsh and West Country folk at 5.42pm, while Midlanders wait until 5.48pm for some reason. Maybe that’s a result of the speed of local transport links, the type of work people do, or the demanding nature of their bosses.
What we do know is that the Beer O’Clock drink of choice across the land is a thirst-slaking pint of standard lager: Carling, Carlsberg and Foster’s make up the bulk of post-work purchases. And no more so than in the heat of the summer. Survey respondents identified the “first hot weekend of the year” as the busiest date for lager sales, closely followed by the August bank holiday.
It also seems that pubs needn’t rely entirely on Friday nights to take advantage of after-work drinking. Thursday evenings provide strong levels of 5pm to 7.30pm trade for many licensees, as their customers get that “almost there” feeling. Mondays and Tuesdays still fail to generate much interest, without the draw of specific events.
This is all very interesting in a ‘so-what’ kind of way. But what can you do to take advantage of Beer O’Clock? Well, in partnership with our We♥Lager partners, we’d like you to make a bit of a fuss about it; to promote it and encourage your customers to celebrate the moment with you and each other.
This Friday, and the next, and the one after that, make sure the employees of all the companies operating in your vicinity know that a lovely cold beer awaits them at 5.42pm.
The weekend starts at Beer O’Clock in your pub. Cheers!
