Credit: Matthew Pover
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With 46% of hybrid workers saying they miss out on post-work pint and chat, one beer brand is looking to make being at your desk that bit brighter. Heineken is aiming to highlight the value of catching up with colleagues and socialise after work by renaming pubs across the UK to ‘The Office’, including Manchester bar, Atlas Bar, on Deansgate.
For one day only, on Thursday 9th October, Atlas Bar will be known as ‘The Office’ and it will be all play and no work. Better still, Heineken is making those face-to-face connections over a drink even easier by offering a free pint of Heineken Original or Heineken 0.0 for workers and their colleagues at more than 1,000 pubs.
Credit: Matthew Pover
According to Heineken, around 22 million people across the UK enjoy after-work socialising with their colleagues, but that figure has seen a slight reduction from pre-pandemic figures (down 5%). Since then, new working practices mean some 58% of Gen Z hybrid workers have never met some of those they work with – and that’s despite 72% of them agreeing the best place to build a relationship with your co-workers is outside of work.
Nabil Nasser, Global Head of Heineken, said: “The return-to-office chat continues to stir up debate. After years of video calls and virtual cheers it’s safe to say that while we might not miss the office, we’ve certainly missed those real, in-person laughs with our colleagues. At Heineken, we’ve always believed the best moments happen when people get together, so this month we’re raising our pints to ‘circling back’ to our colleagues – at the pub.”
Credit: Atlas Bar What are the benefits of an after-work social?
Not only has the after-work social long been considered a British tradition, but 78% of workers polled said after-work socialising is a good way to meet new people and contacts. A further 32% said they have their most honest conversations at the pub, while 74% of Gen Z claimed they have their best work ideas not at work, but at the pub social straight afterwards.
Plus, a new report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research showed that every £10 spent on after-work socialising brings an additional £13.40 to the wider economy. The report says after-work socialising is set to sustain an aggregate economic footprint of £28.9bn in the UK in 2025 alone, and the sector supports a massive 300,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Credit: Matthew Pover How to get a free pint of Heineken Original or Heineken 0.0
While a handful of pubs like Atlas Bar in Manchester are cheekily changing their names to ‘The Office’, more than 1,000 pubs in England are taking part in the offer of a free pint of Heineken or Heineken 0.0 to share with colleagues. You can get a free pint by simply signing up here to receive a voucher, which can be shared with up to three friends (one pint per person), Monday to Friday throughout October from 4.59pm.