Hull has been named the UK's hardest-working city, with 36% of its workers leaving home before 5am, according to a survey by Vanaways. The research reveals that many tradesmen are getting as little as 4.7 hours of sleep a night, well below the NHS recommended seven to nine hours.
Early Starts and Sleep Deprivation
Self-employed joiner Casey Hutchinson, 26, from Hull, often has to pull over in a layby to catch a quick nap on his way home after a long day. He said: "When there's not a lot of work in Hull, you've got to travel to West Yorkshire or North Yorkshire and you've instantly got an hour on top of any journey. There's been plenty of times my alarm has gone off at 5 and I'm on the road for 6, on site for 7 and then working until 5pm. On one job in York, I had to pull over on the way home and get a quick half hour of sleep."
Hutchinson, who runs Kingston Carpentry, now tries to stay local to spend more time with his two children. He gets around 6-7 hours of sleep each night but is up early, especially on days he goes to the gym before work.
Top Cities for Early Risers
Coventry came second in the early-riser rankings, with 30% of workers leaving before 5am. Plymouth and Aberdeen tied at 27%, followed by Cardiff and Durham at 25%. Liverpool (24%), Sheffield (22%), Manchester (21%), and Gloucester (21%) rounded out the top ten.
Most Sleep-Deprived Trades
Plumbers were the earliest-starting trade, with half leaving home before 5am. Operations managers followed at 27%, site managers at 25%, carpenters at 20%, and bricklayers and electricians at 18%. Painters are the most sleep-deprived, averaging only 4.7 hours per night, followed by operations managers (5.3 hours), plumbers (5.5 hours), electricians (5.8 hours), and carpenters (5.9 hours). Joiners get 6.0 hours, bricklayers 6.3 hours, and tilers, gardeners, and site managers average 6.5 hours.
Adam Carter, director at Vanaways, said: "Ask almost any tradesperson and they’ll tell you the alarm clock is one of the hardest parts of the job. For many, being out of the house before 5am isn’t unusual. It’s simply part of the working day, whether they’re beating traffic, heading to site or getting to the first customer before most people have even woken up. Our research shows just how demanding those routines can be, with many tradespeople regularly sacrificing sleep to get on the road early."
