Alfresco dining a British summer favourite

Alfresco dining and socialising with friends are the things that people look forward to most during the great British Summer, according to the results of a survey by smile the internet bank.

Mindful of its ethical values, principles and stance on climate change, a survey of over 2,000 smile customers was carried out to establish whether a hotter summer is as enthusiastically anticipated by some as it is to others and whether people are dealing with the signs of global warming.

Almost six out of ten (58%) people said that on a hot summer day, they enjoy nothing more than getting together with a group of friends and having a barbecue or meeting up in the local beer garden. In contrast, less than one in ten (4%) would prefer to get involved in some kind of outdoor activity such as cricket.

Other top choices of what people look forward to most in Summer include; family days out (21%), gardening (11%) and cycling to work (6%).

One respondent commented: “There’s nothing like getting the rusty old barbecue out of the shed for the first time in the summer, marinating all of the food and getting it prepared, going to light the barbecue only to find you’ve not had the gas bottle filled up!”

Another said: “Why not make the most of summer and reduce your carbon footprint by cycling to work instead of driving?”

Kelvin Collins, Head of Brand Management at smile said: “It is clear to see from the results of the smile survey that people are hoping for a sizzling summer this year and are looking forward to firing up the barbecue - especially after all of this rain!

“However, it must not be forgotten that dramatic extreme weather conditions seem to be increasing at an alarming rate with flooding and gale force winds in some areas and then drought in others – there are some serious effects of global warming that cannot be ignored.”