A Nation of Altruistic, Optimistic, Boozy, Baking Runners: Analysis of the UK in Lockdown…

We provide a range of financial services which has seen some areas surge while others flatline during the lockdown which got me thinking about how lockdown has changed our behaviours as a nation.

Given the immense amount of data available in Google Trends I wanted to get a sense of what we all have on our minds in lockdown. Whether it be day to day living, our finances or our outlook on the future.

The more I delved into the data the more interesting it became, I have split the high level findings out into 3 key sections:

• Day to Day living
• Job & Personal Finances
• Business Outlook

Day to day living in lockdown

We Brits like our booze, there is no hiding it. Seems we are hitting the beers more than at Christmas and the gin and wine lovers among us are not far behind their festive highs.

However, in addition to a big surge in searches for popular ways to drown our sorrows we have also remained resilient wanting to better ourselves whether that be taking up running, yoga or meditating. Motivating many more than a January 1st New Years resolution.

We have ignited a thirst for learning through reading/listening to more books and wanting to further our studies with online courses.

Knowing what we are up to I wanted to see if we could work out whether we’ve all settled into a new daily routine whilst we are holed up in our cages. Sure enough a pattern starts to emerge…

Exercise  >  Work  >  Booze & Bake  >  Read  >  Sleep  >  Repeat

Having seen some of the positive effects for our body and mind I wanted to see if there was a darker side to our mental wellbeing in lockdown that I was sweeping under the carpet here. From the search volumes it seems we are quite a resilient bunch with no obvious spikes for anxiety or stress during this period.

What About Our Jobs & Personal Finances?

After the initial worry and flurry of redundancy searches things seems to have levelled off for now at levels only slightly above those pre-lockdown.

We seem to be surprisingly positive about our finances with searches for payday loans and help with debt seeing a decline during lockdown. Are we just burying our heads in the sand and hoping it will all blow over?

We all want to look after our loved ones with demand for will writing services showing a significant spike during this period.

When we have our backs against the wall we show our true colours and as a nation we should be very proud of how we have all rallied round to support each other and our public services with Captain Tom leading the way 💪

Business Owner Outlook

Given lockdown has cut off the supply side many businesses find themselves in a situation which they would have never predicted.

Naturally there has been huge spikes in searches regarding furloughing employees, working from home and video conferencing services but what are the UK’s entrepreneurs longer term views on the future.

It seems like after the initial flurry of searches for help with business loans the searches have levelled off but at a higher level than pre-lockdown.

With so many unknowns it seems a few nervous business owners were looking at closing their business come lockdown but again as we have got into a new routine and with the government stepping in things have levelled off again.

Even more surprising being the never say die nation are the number of Brits searching to start a company is on an upward trajectory 👊

Is The End Of Lockdown In Sight?

With the number of people searching for answers with regards to the end of lockdown growing exponentially, after more than a month in our cages it seems many of us are starting to get fidgety. Let’s hope the end is now in sight. Sit tight, stay safe and look after yourselves.