Feature
The rise of the motor-office
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 new research. Could a motorhome be your next office? Read more to find out...
Words by: Auto Trader
Published on 2 July 2020 | 0 min read
We recently commissioned a survey of 2,000 British adults which highlighted a nervousness around work-related travel, revealing that 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 if people had to travel for work, almost 1 in 3 UK adults would feel more comfortable staying in a motorhome, rather than a hotel or serviced apartment, showing social distancing and hygiene standards continue to be a worry for people. This is a particularly significant concern for the 15% of the UK workforce who are regularly required to travel and stay overnight for work. Our research showed that 27% of people believe having access to a motorhome would create an ideal quiet space to work in and almost 1 in 10 believe it would give them somewhere to safely self-isolate if they became ill, so they could protect their family. 1 in 5 adults feel employers should provide caravans or similar motorhome options for their employees if staff are required to travel and stay overnight for work in the current climate, with 16% of respondents expressing they believe employers should contribute toward the cost of buying a motorhome for work. On our website we have seen a year on year increase of 51% in views of motorhome adverts (for the last two weeks of June). Notably, our data reveals a shift in the age ranges of people searching, for motorhomes 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 motorhomes 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 and motorhomes 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 motorhomes!”
Our data suggests if people had to travel for work, almost 1 in 3 UK adults would feel more comfortable staying in a motorhome, rather than a hotel or serviced apartment, showing social distancing and hygiene standards continue to be a worry for people. This is a particularly significant concern for the 15% of the UK workforce who are regularly required to travel and stay overnight for work. Our research showed that 27% of people believe having access to a motorhome would create an ideal quiet space to work in and almost 1 in 10 believe it would give them somewhere to safely self-isolate if they became ill, so they could protect their family. 1 in 5 adults feel employers should provide caravans or similar motorhome options for their employees if staff are required to travel and stay overnight for work in the current climate, with 16% of respondents expressing they believe employers should contribute toward the cost of buying a motorhome for work. On our website we have seen a year on year increase of 51% in views of motorhome adverts (for the last two weeks of June). Notably, our data reveals a shift in the age ranges of people searching, for motorhomes 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 motorhomes 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 and motorhomes 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 motorhomes!”