More than a quarter of motorists are restricting the amount they spend when they fill up their car due to high fuel prices, according to an AA/Populus survey.
The survey reveals that the most budget conscience commuters are located Northern Ireland, north-west England, and Wales. Over 15,000 AA members were surveyed; it was found that 28% of commuters set a monthly limit for fuel regardless of the price at pump, which means that for some commuters cutting down on the number of journeys taken each month is their only option.
Whilst the high cost of fuel is causing many people to reduce their car journeys for non work related activities, those that use their cars for commuting are being hit the hardest. Among those who budget a set amount per month for buying fuel, 23% have had to raise their monthly fuel budget, 13% have had to cut back on their spend, whilst 29% have decided to use their car less in due to fuel price increases.
"This AA research is a stunning indication of just how badly fuel prices are affecting so many drivers across the UK. It is little wonder when you consider that £30 spent even at peak prices in 2008 (119.7p a litre) bought 25.1 litres of petrol. A year ago, the same amount bought 25.9 litres, but now it buys only 22.3 litres", says AA President Edmund King, "with an average new car covering 9.6 miles per litre, £30 buys around 34.6 fewer miles than it did a year ago”.
However, for those who have embraced modern telecommunications technology, they have been able to avoid the daily commute entirely. So, whilst many commuters still jostle for space in rush hour traffic, wait at bus stops, and cram into railway carriages across the UK, the more dynamic members of the business community are choosing to work from home. By doing their commuting on-line, using virtual offices and virtual personal assistant solutions to support their business needs these modern thinkers are managing to reduce their expenditure. Virtual offices (along with virtual assistants) allow people to work from home while maintaining a professional business presence.
Avanta works in partnership with Davinci Virtual UK to provide a quality of remote services that would normally only come from being in a corporate building with full administrative support. Calls are answered in your company name and through specialist software the operator can even update your schedule/diary, process sales orders or simply monitor and make notes on a forwarded call.
