Feature
Will the motor-office be the next big thing?
With social distancing set to be in place for the foreseeable future, a new trend is emerging amongst British workers in need of ways to manage remote working and travel for work, according to our latest research. Will the motor-office be the next big thing? Find out here...
Words by: Auto Trader
Published on 2 July 2020 | 0 min read
We commissioned a survey of 2,000 British adults, which highlighted a nervousness around work-related travel. This study revealed almost 1 in 2 Brits would not be comfortable travelling for work right now - unless they were able to travel in their own vehicle and stay in their own accommodation.
Our data suggests that almost 1 in 3 UK adults who have to travel for work would feel more comfortable staying in a caravan or motorhome, rather than a hotel or serviced apartment, due to worries about social distancing and hygiene standards. This is a significant concern for the 15% of the UK workforce who are regularly required to travel and stay overnight for work. So, how can companies keep their staff safe? 27% of people surveyed believed having access to a caravan would create an ideal quiet space to work. Our research also suggested that almost 1 in 5 adults feel their employers should provide caravans for their employees if staff are required to travel and stay overnight for work in the current climate. An additional 16% also feel employers should at least contribute toward the cost of buying a caravan for this purpose. On our website, we have seen an 80% year on year rise in caravan ads for the last two weeks of June. We have also noticed a shift in the demographics of people searching for caravans since before the lockdown, with a reduction in people over the age of 55 searching and an increase in 18-34 year olds. Our YouTube Director, Rory Reid comments: “We’ve recently seen a huge spike in interest for caravans and motorhomes across our app and website. Whilst a large portion of this is down to people needing a staycation this year, there’s a really interesting trend emerging of using caravans for contact-free ways of working, or even self-isolating to keep key workers safe. “Businesses need to adapt to a greater need for safety when sending employees to travel and stay overnight for work. Using caravans can facilitate this, as well as providing a quiet space to help optimise working. It may well be in a business’ best interest to start looking into caravans!”
Our data suggests that almost 1 in 3 UK adults who have to travel for work would feel more comfortable staying in a caravan or motorhome, rather than a hotel or serviced apartment, due to worries about social distancing and hygiene standards. This is a significant concern for the 15% of the UK workforce who are regularly required to travel and stay overnight for work. So, how can companies keep their staff safe? 27% of people surveyed believed having access to a caravan would create an ideal quiet space to work. Our research also suggested that almost 1 in 5 adults feel their employers should provide caravans for their employees if staff are required to travel and stay overnight for work in the current climate. An additional 16% also feel employers should at least contribute toward the cost of buying a caravan for this purpose. On our website, we have seen an 80% year on year rise in caravan ads for the last two weeks of June. We have also noticed a shift in the demographics of people searching for caravans since before the lockdown, with a reduction in people over the age of 55 searching and an increase in 18-34 year olds. Our YouTube Director, Rory Reid comments: “We’ve recently seen a huge spike in interest for caravans and motorhomes across our app and website. Whilst a large portion of this is down to people needing a staycation this year, there’s a really interesting trend emerging of using caravans for contact-free ways of working, or even self-isolating to keep key workers safe. “Businesses need to adapt to a greater need for safety when sending employees to travel and stay overnight for work. Using caravans can facilitate this, as well as providing a quiet space to help optimise working. It may well be in a business’ best interest to start looking into caravans!”