British Culture, British Customs and British Traditions

Double click on any word for its definition.
This section is in advanced English and is only intended to be a guide, not to be taken too seriously! With dictionary look up.

Facts and Figures

There are about 3.7 million businesses in the UK.

About 75% of British jobs are in service industries - hotels, restaurants, travel, shopping, and computer and finances. It is our fastest growing business and employs over twenty million people.

The working day/week

The usual working day starts at 9am and finishes by 5pm. Most people work a five-day week. The working week is, on average, the longest of any country in Europe. In 1998 a new law was passed saying that workers do not have to work more than 48 hours a week if they don't want to. However, about 22% of British workers do work more than a 48-hour a week. However, on the whole everyone is out of the office early on Fridays and no one would dream of coming to work on Saturdays.

British employers must give their workers four weeks paid holiday a year.

The tea break

Frequent tea breaks are the bane of office productivity.

One strange custom requires you to ask everyone around whether they'd like tea or coffee whenever you go to get some for yourself. Often people will try and wait each other out so that they can avoid this chore.

The tea break is so famous there is even a song about it:-

 

EVERYTHING STOPS FOR TEA Featured in Buchanan's 1935 comedy film, "Come Out Of The Pantry" (Goodhart / Hoffman / Sigler) Jack Buchanan Every nation in creation has its favourite drink France is famous for its wine, it's beer in Germany Turkey has its coffee and they serve it blacker than ink Russians go for vodka and England loves its tea Oh, the factories may be roaring With a boom-a-lacka, zoom-a-lacka, wee But there isn't any roar when the clock strikes four Everything stops for tea Oh, a lawyer in the courtroom In the middle of an alimony plea Has to stop and help 'em pour when the clock strikes four Everything stops for tea It's a very good English custom Though the weather be cold or hot When you need a little pick-up, you'll find a little tea cup Will always hit the spot You remember Cleopatra Had a date to meet Mark Anthony at three When he came an hour late she said "You'll have to wait" For everything stops for tea Oh, they may be playing football And the crowd is yelling "Kill the referee!" But no matter what the score, when the clock strikes four Everything stops for tea Oh, the golfer may be golfing And is just about to make a hole-in-three But it always gets them sore when the clock yells "four!" Everything stops for tea It's a very good English custom And a stimulant for the brain When you feel a little weary, a cup'll make you cheery And it's cheaper than champagne Now I know just why Franz Schubert Didn't finish his unfinished symphony He might have written more but the clock struck four And everything stopped for tea

Meetings

"Meetings - where you take minutes and waste hours."

Generally a meeting scheduled for one hour always lasts one hour.

The objectives of a meeting are spelled out at the onset and the communication is so clear and simple that the discussion hardly ever meanders.

For formal meetings there is a chair and a secretary. The chair is in charge of the meeting and the secretary takes the minutes.

An amusing saying is, "A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted".

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Interesting Links

The Confederation of British Industry - The CBI calls itself the voice of British business.

Geert Hofstede - An insight into other types of business culture.

UK Trade and Investment - The Government organisation that supports both companies in the UK trading internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to locate in the UK.