Southern men more hen-pecked than northern counterparts!
[UKPRwire, Tue Aug 19 2008] It’s a well known adage that women wear the trousers in the home but new research has highlighted that the trend has spread to businesses! The UK’s van driving community is increasingly becoming dominated by females, with a growing number purchasing vans for their own business use or influencing purchasing decisions.
As well as significantly influencing their partners’ buying decisions around the UK, women are also becoming more entrepreneurial and purchasing vans for their own business needs. Females make up a third of the 3.2 million entrepreneurs in the UK and over 45% of Vansunited.co.uk’s users. Over a third of van owners are now women with the new breed labeled "vantrepreneurs" – signifying a considerable shift in the number of women using commercial vehicles to further their careers.
Southern businessmen are more hen-pecked than their northern counterparts, with 11-15% of key business decisions now made by their partners or wives in London and the South compared to 4-6% in the Yorkshire and North East. Across the UK younger females (25-35 years old) were found to be more forthright than their older peers.
Vansunited.co.uk has compiled a list of the ten regions where females make the most decisions on vans:
1. South West - 15%
2. London - 14%
3. South East - 11%
4. W. Midlands - 9%
5. North West - 8%
6. East Midlands - 7%
7. Scotland - 7%
8. Wales - 6%
9. Yorkshire & Humber - 6%
10. North East - 4%
53 per cent of ‘vantrepreneurs’ are self-employed, compared with 44 per cent of their male counterparts. Delivery is one of the top five professional uses of vans for both men and women. The statistics by Vansunited.co.uk highlight florists, gardeners, beauticians and hairdressers and dog groomers at the top of the list of professions in this sector. This new generation of van drivers goes against everything the stereotypical ‘White Van Man’ is supposed to represent.
Katie Armitage, marketing manager of Vansunuted.co.uk said: “We’ve noted an increase of female users on the website. Women are having a bigger impact on the van-driving small businesses community and it’s now impossible to ignore the fact that ‘van-girl power’ is hitting the highways at quite a speed.”
More vehicle manufacturers are recognising the influence of the female van-driving market gearing vans towards the female market. Both Citroen and Peugeot have recognised the opportunity with launches of new vans and alternative colours – introducing features such as dash mounted gear sticks and adjustable seatbelts. Lady drivers now account for over 40% of silver vans – giving birth to the phrase ‘silver van woman’ .
This proof of a new, softer breed, of van driver flies in the face of recent reports that van-drivers are most prone to road rage and supports previous Vansunited.co.uk research that highlighted the improvement of van drivers’ image amongst the general public .
For more details visit www.vansunited.co.uk
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Notes to Editors:
• Vansunited.co.uk is the UK’s only one stop shop covering all areas of commercial van buying. The site has grown to be one of the leading commercial van websites in the UK, attracting 109,000 visits per month and generating in excess of 45,000 vehicle led internet leads to its advertisers.
• The Vansunited research was undertaken from May-July 2008 and reviewed the opinions and actions of 1,250 website users
