Murray mania causes 120 m pounds worth of work loss in UK
July 4th, 2009 - 4:50 pm ICT by ANI
Edinburgh (Scotland), July 4 (ANI): With around eight million viewers watching the Wimbledon semi-final between British tennis hope Andy Murray and American Andy Roddick, experts have estimated that 120 million pounds worth of man hours were lost at work.
Analysts believe that around half of the eight million skipped work to watch the historic semi-final, reports The Scotsman.
Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, was quoted as saying: “It would probably be reasonable to assume a loss of about one and a half hour’s productivity on average.
“Hourly GDP in the UK is 800 million pounds so this would imply a loss of productivity of 120 million pounds.
McWilliams said the loss of productivity could be outweighed by an unexpected Friday-afternoon boost for licensed traders from thirsty fans.
Murray mania has also been blamed for a huge increase in the number of workers taking “sickies” over the last week.
Absence management firm First Care said absences in the private sector had been 17 per cent higher than would be expected this year, while the number of NHS employees off was 30 per cent higher than normal.
Key factors, included swine flu and other flu-related illnesses, people suffering ill health in the hot weather and the drama of Murray’s progress through Wimbledon. (ANI)
- Andy Murray's girlfriend Kim Sears 'pays her own bill on dates' - Aug 12, 2010
- Murray likely to miss Queen's Club to rest injured ankle - Jun 04, 2011
- For Wimbledon final, Murray ready to miss pal Haye's clash with Klitschko in Germany - Apr 25, 2011
- Fans furious over 4K pound ticket to watch Murray - Jul 02, 2010
- First set holds the key in Australian Open finals: Rusedski - Jan 30, 2010
- Murray says he would love to play for free at Wimbledon - Jul 02, 2010
- Bookies relieved, Murray miserable (Wimbledon Diary) - Jul 04, 2009
- Cop clampdown as Wimbledon touts send tickets soaring to 14,000 pounds - Jun 28, 2010
- US Open: Somdev takes on Murray, Sania plays Peer - Aug 26, 2011
- Murray inspires growth of tennis, Brit economy - Sep 14, 2009
- Murray should focus on winning first Grand Slam title: Borg - Jul 04, 2010
- Got the balance a little bit wrong against Nadal: Murray - Jul 02, 2011
- One in three football-crazy English workers will be truant during FIFA WC - May 30, 2010
- Murray says he is mentally stronger in comparison to last year - Jan 30, 2011
- US Open: Top four men cruise into semis - Sep 10, 2011
Tags: absence management, absences, andy murray, andy roddick, british tennis, business research, edinburgh scotland, friday afternoon, half hour, hot weather, ill health, illnesses, man hours, management firm, million viewers, nhs employees, scotsman, sickies, swine flu, wimbledon
