Rugby World Cup set to cost UK plc

Productivity set to slump as employees check on the progress of the England team during the tournament

The forthcoming rugby World Cup will cost the UK economy more than £460m, according to research released by email and web content security vendor, Marshal.

Employee productivity is expected to substantially drop after the tournament kicks-off this weekend when ardent rugby fans get behind World Champions, England, as the team tries to retain the Web Ellis trophy.

It is expected that 10 per cent of the workforce will down tools for at least 30 minutes each day as they keep up-to-date with developments in France.
Michael Clifford, EMEA vice president at Marshal, said: “Rugby is one of the country’s most popular sports which will mean many people will be glued to their screens over the next six weeks.

“We estimate that one in ten workers will spend at least half-an-hour each day catching up on the World Cup which will result in more than 31m hours of lost productivity and will result in losses of around £461m.”

England became the first northern hemisphere team to win the World Cup following their historical victory over Australia in Sydney in 2003.

After claiming the trophy, the team embarked on a victory parade through London which saw an estimated one million people line the capital’s streets at a loss of millions to the economy and Clifford believes employers will need to be vigilant if they are to prevent similar losses.

Employers need to set and enforce policies on the acceptable use of the internet,” he said.

“Companies can control productivity and bandwidth consumption issues by implementing policies that limit internet access to certain sites to lunch time, and before and after working hours.”