NEWS FROM BUYAGIFT.COM

British Families Feel The Squeeze Of Summer Holidays

The Summer Holiday Costs Parents £9.5 Billion*, Says Buyagift.com Study

AS children break up for the school summer holidays tomorrow (Thursday), new research released by Buyagift.com shows Britain's parents spend a staggering £9.5 billion on entertaining their kids during the six-week break.

A study by the leading online gifting and experience website found most parents spend £1,232 on keeping their children entertained during the summer holiday.

Research by Buyagift.com of 1,000 parents found that by the time kids go back to school the average family will have spent; £472 on childcare, £388 on day trips in the UK and £372 on food and drink.

The survey found more parents than ever are shunning expensive, stressful family holidays in favour of UK day trips, with over a third of British parents deciding not to go on holiday at all this year.

Half of parents say they are put off by the cost, with research showing they spend £853 on entertaining the kids on a one week holiday - more than double the amount spent across the six-week break on one-day trips and activities. Almost one in five (17%) parents say the stress of going away puts them off while the same number say it's too difficult booking time off work, or co-ordinating work schedules with their other half.

The overwhelming majority of parents (89%) say they find day trips to the coast or theme parks the least stressful summer holiday family activity – more enjoyable than going abroad or staying at home cooped up with the kids. Almost one third of parents (29%) say holidays abroad too stressful while almost a quarter (24%) say staying at home all day drives them round the bend.

More than half of parents (53%) acknowledge they prefer day trips because they are cheaper, one in 10 (13%) say they are less stressful and almost a quarter of mums and dads (23%) think days out mean kids get to experience a wider variety of activities.

Dan Moutain, Buyagift.com CEO, said: "The summer holidays are an exciting time for children, but it's no surprise that they can instill an element of dread in parents as kids demand to be kept entertained throughout the course of the six weeks.  As well as being more cost-effective, activities and day trips provide more value and variety than the annual summer holiday and can be worked around parents' work schedules for minimal disruption.  At Buyagift.com we have a range of days out available from as little as £6.30, meaning there's something for everyone - no matter their budget - to enjoy throughout the long summer break."

For more information on gifts available on Buyagift.com please contact buyagift@frankpr.it 

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*£9.5 billion figure is based upon £1,232 (average spend of families over the six week holiday) x 7.7 million (number of families with dependent children based on the 2012 figures from Office for National Statistics) 

LET THERE BE BEER

BRITAIN INVITED TO "LET THERE BE BEER"

Beer industry unites to launch a campaign to bring Britain back to beer

This year the British beer industry unites to celebrate the very best of brewing.  A new TV advertising campaign has launched which calls for the country to back ‘Let There Be Beer’ campaign and rediscover what's great about beer.

This collaboration comprises some of the world's biggest brewing companies, national brewers, publicans, retailers, organisations such as the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and support from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Society of Independent Brewers.

Let There Be Beer's ambition is to reignite the public’s love of beer and restore lagers, ales, bitters, pilsners and stouts firmly in the nation’s heart, wherever they are enjoyed, whilst highlighting the significant role brewing plays in supporting the economy.

Let There Be Beer wants to encourage a reappraisal of beer and will be focussing on demonstrating the diversity of the category, with a big focus on pairing beer with food and celebrating the social side of grabbing a beer with mates.

Simon Cox, from Let There Be Beer, said "There is an ever more diverse selection of beers available in our pubs and supermarket shelves. We've seen the emergence of a more discerning beer drinker, a growth in micro-breweries, as well as increased availability of beer brands from all around the UK and the world. Two decades ago there were around 2,000 brands of beer on sale in the UK compared to more than 5,000 on sale today.

"Let There Be Beer is about instilling a passion for beer in the nation’s hearts and remind the nation why beer is the nation's best-loved drink. But for many, beer simply means pints of warm, flat lager. That couldn't be further from reality!"

Jonathan Neame, chairman of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "Some consumers have forgotten how much beer really means to them. We believe that’s a travesty, as there’s nothing like a beer. Beer is irreplaceable – in its flavour and diversity, in its culture and history, its ability to ground us and help us to celebrate the good things in life and the happiest occasions…beer and pubs are the original social network!"

A snapshot on how beer consumption in Britain has changed in Britain:

Your life in beer

At university, the average student drinks 1.8 times per week but what they choose is changing. There's been a 58%[1] rise in union bars requesting cask lager and students are also picking world lagers, which are up by 17%[2].

Tastes change as our tastebuds mature through life. As a result younger drinkers tend to opt for standard lagers and lighter tastes. As our appetite for flavour develops, drinkers seek out beers with more taste which is why we start to favour higher ABV beers and ales as we get older. Drinkers between 25 – 35 tend to be the most experimental with new flavours before settling into a favourite brand as they get older. Are you 32? Then you're at your peak drinking age, 42%[3] of 32 year-olds have a drink a week versus an average of 32%.

Lager vs. Ale

Lager is Britain's beer of choice with over 5.2bn[4] pints sold every year. But cask ale has been growing in popularity over the last decade as consumers hunt out locally produced pints.

Home vs. Pub

The nation is now closing in on the 50% tipping point of drinking just as often in their own home as they do down the local. In the 1960s the average age of when drink consumption shifted to the home was 52 years-old, this has declined sharply to aged 23 in 2010. This has been driven by a stark improvement in home entertainment options and changes in alcohol pricing.

Brands

Consumers are now more willing than ever to experiment, with 46%[5] willing to try a new brand of lager.

Regions

The nation has an impressive brewing heritage. Here are a few regional facts:

Stout is more popular in London than anywhere else in the UK which probably harks back to its introduction to British shores in 1700 London.

Barley is grown bountifully in East Anglia, which is the most popular region for British ale which is made using these malts.

Kent is well-known for hop growing and is home to Britain's oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame.

Britain took a while to fall in love with lager, but now it commands three quarters of the beer market.

Back in the 1930s Mild made up three quarters of the beer drunk in Britain. Nowadays it’s most popular in the West Midlands and North West.

Burton-on-Trent can trace its brewing heritage back to 1004 and has always been synonymous with Indian Pale Ale.

Some 23%[6] of drinkers in the North visit the pub once a week, versus 17% in Scotland, 18% in the South and 21% in the Midlands.

Men vs. Women

Women today feel less social stigma when drinking beer and are much more likely to now experiment with different brands than their male counterparts. 

While the frequency of men drinking beer three times a week is relatively stable at 16% the number of women drinking it three times a week is slowly rising, from 2.4% in 2009 to 2.7%[7] today.

To join in Let There Be Beer, see the advert and contribute to the world's biggest encyclopaedia of beer please visit www.facebook.com/lettherebebeer and follow www.twitter.com/lettherebebeer

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[1] CGA Brand Index MAT to P4 2013

[2] CGA Brand Index MAT to P4 2013

[3] Kantar World Panel Alcovision, December 2012

[4] CGA Brand Index MAT to P4 2013 and Nielsen MAT to April 2013

[5] HPI Aug 2012

[6] Kantar World Panel Alcovision, December 2012

[7] Kantar World Panel Alcovision, December 2012