By KLTV Newsdesk –
God’s Own County has been revealed as England’s most generous by a new analysis of tipping habits.
Almost 200,000 purchases made across the country were analysed and found that customers in Yorkshire are eight times more likely to leave a tip than those in East Anglia.
The data overturns Yorkshire folk’s traditional reputation for stinginess. Not only do the customers of small businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber add a tip to half (50%) of all card payments, but they also leave the largest tips, at an average of 8.6% of the purchase value.
At the other end of the scale, East Anglians add a tip to a paltry 6% of transactions, with Londoners tipping a modest 19% of the time. Customers in England’s wealthy southeast add a tip to a mere 12% of purchases – making them twice as likely to tip as East Anglians but four times less likely to do so than the top-tipping Yorkshire folk.
Consumers in the East Midlands are nearly as likely to tip as those in Yorkshire; with 44% leaving a tip on average, they come a respectable third in the top tippers ranking. However, the tips they leave are the smallest; at an average of just 4.4% of the purchase value, they’re barely half the size of the average tip left in Yorkshire and the Humber.
By contrast, customers in the South West tip infrequently but generously. They tip just 17% of the time, making them three times less likely to do so than people in Yorkshire, but leave an average of 8.5% of their bill amount – almost as much as the top tippers in Yorkshire.
Table: England’s tippers
Rank
|
English region
|
% of customers leaving a tip
|
Average tip size %
|
1
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
50%
|
8.6%
|
2
|
West Midlands
|
46%
|
6.8%
|
3
|
East Midlands
|
44%
|
4.4%
|
4
|
North West
|
23%
|
5%
|
5
|
London
|
19%
|
6%
|
6
|
South West
|
17%
|
8.5%
|
7
|
South East
|
12%
|
6.9%
|
8
|
East Anglia
|
6%
|
6.3%
|
Richard Carter, Co-founder of Lopay, the payment provider company that analysed the data, commented: “While leaving a tip has become the norm in many places, it’s still very much a matter of personal choice.
“Yet it’s striking just how widely tipping varies across the country. If leaving a tip is a recognition of someone’s hard work and good service, it seems unlikely that customer service is eight times better in Yorkshire than it is in East Anglia. It may just be that customers in Yorkshire tend to be more generous.
“Thousands of service businesses are facing a tough start to 2023 as customers throttle back their spending in the face of both the cost of living crisis and the traditional post-Christmas lull.
“Tips provide a welcome boost to staff at such times, but as our data shows, they can’t be relied upon. That’s why all small businesses need to watch every penny at the point of sale.”