Iconic chocolate brand is behind us not having to work bank holidays

25 August 2023 , 12:25

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There's an unusual link between chocolate and bank holidays (Image: Newscast/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))

With another bank holiday around the corner, workers up and down the country will be looking forward to a long weekend. But when you're lounging in bed on Monday morning, or doing whatever it is you get up to on your days off, you may want to thank Cadbury.

It turns out the confectioner is behind the extra lie in, as the company popularised the practice of giving workers the bank holidays off. In fact, George Cadbury was known for his pioneering approach to workplace conditions.

As Cadbury's website recounts, Bournville, the village founded by the Cadbury family, was far from the norm, when building work began on the factory and housing back in 1879.

Far from just a workplace, it was designed as a place where people could work, live and play. "Children enjoyed a new playground, country outings and summer camps. Whilst the men played football, hockey and cricket. In 1902, 30% of Cadbury's capital expenditure was spent on workers' welfare. Tennis and squash courts were built, along with a bowling green and swimming pools with heated changing rooms.

"Workers' facilities like these were unheard of in Victorian times - as were holidays. Cadbury became one of the first firms to introduce a Saturday half-day off work. 'People told us it would mean ruin,' said George. 'I do not think any men could have been happier'," the website reports.

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Talking of happiness, if you're planning to celebrate the bank holiday weekend with your own game of football, or with any other outdoor adventures, you might want to pack a raincoat.

The Met Office weekend forecast reads: "Scattered showers soon becoming more widespread occasionally heavy with a possibility of thunder. Breezy in the west. Rather cool for late August, but feeling reasonable in any sunshine. Bright to start Sunday for many, then clouding over with outbreaks of rain. Warmer and brighter on Monday with sunny spells. Further showery rain arriving on Tuesday. Breezy at times."

Amber O'Connor