Millions of workers take holidays, call in sick or roll in late hammering UK productivity – and medics warn it could take days to recover from football all-nighter
England’s early hours’ World Cup showdown with Mexico cost the nation £1 billion, according to boffins.
Over half-a-million workers were expected to call in sick after staying up all night to watch the last-16 clash at the Estadio Azteca – where Diego Maradona’s notorious Hand Of God KO’d England’s chances in 1986. Covering for absent staff costs bosses £139m-per-day. Hungover or tired employees who stayed up late boozing will cost another £200m, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Another £200m hit was expected due to shorter working days at businesses allowed to start late. While six million workers – almost one in five nationwide – took annual leave.
Having 10% fewer staff will wipe £500m off the UK’s daily economic productivity of £5billion. Finance chiefs estimated the total cost of the match to the country’s coffers at more than £1bn.
Alan Price, chief executive officer of HR managers BrightHR which monitors absences among 1m employees at 50,000 companies, said: “It looks like ‘Hangover Monday’ for the economy after millions were up most of the night for the Mexico game.
“While it’s a big boost for pubs and hospitality there will be an impact on productivity for many businesses.
“The economy will take a financial hit with half-a-million people expected to call in sick while groggy heads and lack of sleep cause a significant drop in productivity.
“There will be an influx of lateness as well as employers allowing staff to start late meaning less work will be done.
“There’ll be a lot of sleepy people, sore heads, and reduced productivity from those who do make it in.
“We’re likely to see daily economic productivity drop another 10% due to the sheer volume of people taking annual leave so they can watch the game.”
Fans blew £395m on booze, food, shirts, flags and Three Lions’ memorabilia watching the game in bars or at football house parties, according to retail analyst VoucherCodes.co.uk .
Brits were expected to sup 38 million pints in the longest Sunday session in history after Sir Keir Starmer allowed pubs to open until 5am so fans could watch the match with pals.
More than 500,000 supporters poured into the 6,000 boozers that stayed open nationwide.
Emergency ale supplies were drafted in to ensure they did not run dry. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “The timing of the match was unprecedented for pubs.
“We were encouraging everyone to cheer on our Three Lions and be part of a moment of huge national significance.”
Mike Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association, said: “Operators across the country were focused on making sure they had enough stock from breweries.”
Cops warned supporters who hit the bottle not to get behind the wheel today as booze stays in folks’ systems for hours.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Officers will be carrying out roadside drink and drug-driving checks.
“While you may feel fit to drive, alcohol can remain in your system for longer than you think and you could still be over the legal limit.”
Even sober motorists who get less than four hours’ sleep are 11.5 times more likely to have a crash, data showed.
While experts who analysed studies involving 268,000 people warned sleep-deprived staff were 62% more likely to suffer workplace accidents which cost companies up to £240m-a-year.
More than 13m were set to tune in to the game making it the biggest night time TV broadcast since 16m watched Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon in 1969 at 3.56am.
Some planned to view the game with subtitles to avoid waking neighbours.
National Grid bosses plotted to handle a 600MW electricity surge – the output of a reactor at Heysham Nuclear Power Station in Lancashire – as half-time kettles went on at the same time.
Some schools started late so children could stay up to watch with youngsters encouraged to roll up to lessons in England kits.
But sleep experts MattressNextDay’s medical adviser Dr Roger Henderson – a veteran GP with 40 years’ experience – warned it could take days for Britain to recover.
“One of the biggest myths I hear is that you can simply ‘catch up’ on all your lost sleep at the weekend,” he said.
“Unfortunately sleep doesn’t quite work like a bank account. A couple of longer nights afterwards will certainly help you feel better and reduce daytime sleepiness but they won’t instantly reverse every effect of a disrupted night. Concentration, reaction time and mood can all take a little longer to recover, especially if you’ve lost several hours of sleep.”