Beware of the Christmas bar bill evaders!

As partygoers gear up for the festive season, a new study of bar behaviour has revealed that there may be more than meets the eye to a few drinks at the local pub. According to research by Abbey Banking, buying a round of drinks can turn into a complex test of mathematic ability for the two thirds of Brits who plan, plot and calculate their way through a night out with friends.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of boozing Brits confess to playing the ‘buy early’ move, in order to maximise returns from their mates. This tactic is more popular with men than women (30 per cent vs. 18 per cent) and involves buying the first round, in the hope of dining out on this show of generosity for the remainder of the night.

A sneaky one-in-ten (10 per cent) of Brits prefer to wait until mid-way through the evening in order to capitalise on early leavers and others who have not kept pace. While one-in-20 people (5 per cent) aim to avoid buying drinks all night, only pulling out their wallets at the end of the evening if absolutely necessary.

The research also found that one-in-five people (20 per cent), equivalent to around 7.4 million Brits are ‘lone drinkers’, preferring to buy drinks only for themselves to avoid confusion and arguments, a problem that as many as one-in-ten people have faced in the past.

Steve Shore, Head of Banking at Abbey, said: “It might seem trivial but no-one likes a bill dodger. The festive period is an expensive time of the year without having to pick up the tab for other people. We would advise festive partygoers to plan and stick to a budget, try to avoid being the person who puts their card behind the bar and avoid being the last to leave.”

The Abbey research identified the following types of drinkers:

The early mover – Makes an early beeline for the bar, buying drinks for everyone within ‘shouting’ distance. Rarely makes a repeat visit. (24 per cent). Men are more likely than women to employ this tactic (30 per cent vs. 18 per cent).

The mid-evening mover – Seizes the opportunity to get a shout in when many fellow drinkers have either gone home or fallen out of sync with the shout (10 per cent). This move was equally popular with men and women (11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively).

The lone drinker – Carrying the scar tissue of previous fall-outs, this drinker looks after number one only. (20 per cent). There was little gender difference (19 per cent of men versus 21 per cent of women).

The bar bill evaders – Elusive and hard to pin down, this drinker only reaches into their pocket at the end of the evening if absolutely necessary (5 per cent). Men were more than twice as likely as women to evade the bill (7 per cent versus 3 per cent).
Those living in the South or South East are most likely to be the early movers (28 per cent) whilst those living in the North West are most likely to be lone drinkers, buying only for themselves (33 per cent).

Men are twice as likely as women (37 per cent vs. 18 per cent) to keep a mental note of the drinks tally and ‘You Owe Me’. In the regions, the Scots are also most likely to keep count (31 per cent).

In addition to knowing whose turn it is to buy drinks, 12 per cent of people keep track of how much each round is costing. In the regions, this figure is highest in the South East and Scotland (16 per cent and 15 per cent).

Ten per cent of people have fallen out with a friend who never buys drinks, with this figure rising to 16 per cent amongst men.

A whopping 16 per cent of Scots have had an argument with a friend who has dodged the bar bill.