Tag: Fasthosts

Portugal passed law prohibiting contact with employees outside of regular hours 

A poll conducted by Fasthosts has revealed that seven in 10 Brits receive one to 10 emails out of working hours every single day.  

The pandemic has resulted in millions of people working from home and has made ‘switching off’ difficult. The right to disconnect in France has been law for six years, and Ireland has brought in a similar code of practice under which employers should include reminders in their emails to employees indicating no requirement to reply out of working hours. In late 2021 Portugal also passed a law prohibiting employers from contacting workers outside of their regular hours by phone, message or email.  

Based on the research, a shocking 49.2% of respondents receive one to five work-related emails outside of their office hours while one in seven Brits receive up to 10 after-hours work emails per day! Shockingly, 67% of Brits generally reply to after-work emails, while 16% say they always reply no matter what. 

Fifty percent of respondents admitted that receiving after-hours work emails has a negative impact on their lives. It’s no wonder that the poll found that 46% of people in the UK experienced or felt on the verge of burnout in 2021, based on various studies.  

Specifically, Brits voted that the after-work emails make them feel like they’re always at work (19.4%), like they have no time for themselves (17.6%) and their family (15.1%) and are concerned that if they don’t reply it would affect their career (11.3%).  

One question in the survey asked if there should be a law in the UK restricting after-hours work emails with over four in ten (43.5%) agreeing that there should be one in place, with most of them being women!  

Millennials are the most affected and women receive more emails compared to men  

Based on the findings, women receive more work-related emails after work, compared to men (51.3% and 47.1% respectively). Despite this, the poll revealed that both genders felt as if they were always at work whereas men felt that they are more likely to have no time for themselves or family, while women felt the pressure to work all the time or that not replying could affect their career.  

There is a significant shift in the working environment with policies that promote a healthier work-life balance amid the rise of remote working. With more countries banning employers from contacting their employees outside their shift hours, maybe the UK will follow. Our study showed that many Brits receive after-hours emails which affect them in their personal lives and as a result, most of them believe that there should be legislation aimed at minimising this problem. 

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Luton has best business survival rate

  • Fasthosts reveal the top cities in the UK for start-up businesses by looking into a large variety of regional metrics from business survival rates to the cost of office space.
  • Luton is the UK’s top city to start a business right now, study finds.

The arrival of the pandemic saw a 12.3% increase in new businesses – the highest increase on record.

By analysing average download speeds, business birth and death rates, five-year survival rates, office renting costs, and average working productivity across the nation, Fasthosts’ conducted a survey that revealed the top 15 cities for business opportunities.

Based on the benchmarks, Luton was crowned as the best all-round UK location to start a new business with an overall index score of 3.375. The city proved to have one the best rates of production, office prices, and business survival rates out of any other UK city.

In second place was Reading which boasted a super high productivity rate – even higher than Luton – but falls short at office costs and internet speeds. The Bedfordshire town ranks marginally higher than fellow southern start-up hotspot Reading (3.312).

In the battle of the capitals, Edinburgh outperformed Central London by the slimmest of margins, to rank as the survey’s fourth best city for overall enterprise opportunities, while the English metropolis took fifth.

The top 15 UK cities to launch a business can be seen below:

Ranking City Average download speed (Mbit/s) Business Death rate Business Birth rate 5 Year Survival Rate Cost of Office Space per sq. ft. (£) Productivity level
1 Luton 63 1040 1455 410 22 102.97
2 Reading 54 930 1145 435 38 126.9
3 Nottingham 69 1410 1510 20 14.88 86
4 Edinburgh 63 2540 2885 1150 35 104.8
5 Central London 51 5750 5190 32895 112 132.3
6 Liverpool 62 2445 3110 805 23 91.7
7 Portsmouth 55 845 1275 320 16.9 94.3
8 Coventry 58 1410 1620 605 18.5 91.6
9 Wolverhampton 61 1110 1245 380 16 84
10 Bristol 60 2370 2895 1140 35 97.6
11 Birmingham 58 5970 7870 2080 34 91.5
12 Newcastle upon Tyne 56 1105 1295 455 24 90.9
13 Stoke-on-Trent 53 810 965 385 16 85.5
14 Northampton 44 1275 2000 520 13.6 93.6
15 Bradford 49 1875 2305 945 14.6 86.2

Michelle Stark, Sales and Marketing Director at Fasthosts commented: “Even in a vastly increasing digital world, choosing the right city to launch a business is an important decision. And it’s great to see such a variety of cities across the country among the top 15 from Portsmouth to Edinburgh and Bradford to choose from. It’s important to be strategic when deciding in your business location and we urge all start-ups to check out our rankings before choosing their desired location for business.”

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