Plumbers head the list, accounting for 46% of calls, with heating engineers (13%) and locksmiths (10%) following behind. The report, released by Budget Van Insurance, showed that 13% of respondents had paid between £150 and £250 for the service, excluding parts. Approximately one third had paid between £100 and £150 for the call, with parts charged separately. The survey, carried out by Tickbox, contacted 1395 UK residents. Service Management magazine contacted British Gas, the RAC and AA to obtain the call out statistics from some of the largest service providers in the UK over the Christmas and New Year period. The AA stated that it attended more than 170,000 breakdowns over the 17 day period from 21st December to 6th January. Its average is usually just over 160,000 at less busy times of the year. The association had recorded more than 180,000 call outs for the same period the previous year. Its busiest day, 2nd January, resulted in 15,000 calls against a forecasted figure of 16,000. British Gas reported that its engineers attended over 2000 central heating breakdowns on Christmas Day alone this year, an increase on the two previous years’ figures. Its busiest time was Christmas Eve, however, with more than 20,000 calls for central heating problems and over 2000 electrical repairs also attended on the same day. The figures for Christmas Eve also showed significant increases on the two previous years, which British Gas attributed to the fact that Christmas Eve 2007 had been a normal working day. British Gas Services managing director Chris Weston said: ‘Thousands of workers perform invaluable services at this time of the year and we are glad to have been able to make a small contribution to ensure that families everywhere were able to enjoy Christmas.’ The RAC reported call out figures of nearly 136,000 between 21st December and 6th January. The result showed a significant increase on the previous year, with call outs totaling 121,695 between 22nd December 2006 and 7th January 2007. The calls were mainly distributed around the RAC’s three main operational areas that include Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and also divide England into three main regions. The various results further emphasise the importance of the field service industry and the role it plays in providing timely assistance to both private individuals and corporate enterprises. |
