January 2024– A new analysis by UK Virtual Business Assistant firm SpareMyTime, reveals that commuting is now rising 3% faster than inflation, with the daily commute now costing the average worker a whopping £2,616 every year.
The study comes as SpareMyTime finds that the cost of commuting has risen by 12% compared to inflation which currently sits at 9%. This is due to the combination of different factors including the cost of fuel increasing by nearly a third (32%) and a 6% increase in the cost of train tickets compared to last year.
Using ONS data on the average time spent commuting, against real-time figures from the trainline, Sparemytime has calculated which UK cities are the most expensive for commuters. Ranking in first place is London, with train costs for commuters costing nearly double the average at £5,102. Ranking second is Birmingham at £2,746 and third is Manchester at £2,532. Whereas the least expensive commuting cities are Liverpool and Sheffield at £2,216 and £2,313 respectively.
Looking at the average time spent commuting based on figures from the ONS, the study also reveals the amount of time each worker loses simply travelling to work, showing that the average person spends the equivalent of 7.5 days commuting every year.
Melissa Gauge, Founder of SpareMyTime comments “The rising cost of commuting is making it more attractive for people to work remotely or from home. This can be a win-win situation for both employees and employers. Employees can save money and time on their commute, and they can have more flexibility and control over their work lives. Employers can reduce their overhead costs and attract and retain top talent”
Workers spend £3,454 every year on average just to get to the office!
| Rank | City | Region | Avg train costs for commuters (annual) |
| 1 | London | South East | £5,102 |
| 2 | Birmingham | West Midlands | £2,746 |
| 3 | Manchester | North West | £2,532 |
| 6 | Nottingham | East Midlands | £2,459 |
| 5 | Leeds | Yorkshire and the Humber | £2,421 |
| 8 | Cardiff | Wales | £2,457 |
| 4 | Edinburgh | Scotland | £2,344 |
| 9 | Leicester | East Midlands | £2,459 |
| 7 | Southampton | South East | £2,402 |
| 10 | Portsmouth | South East | £2,402 |
| 11 | Glasgow | Scotland | £2,352 |
| 14 | Bristol | South West | £2,421 |
| 12 | Sheffield | Yorkshire and the Humber | £2,313 |
| 13 | Liverpool | North West | £2,216 |
Lizzie, a senior marketing VA at SpareMyTime comments: “Working for SMT and being based from home (which in my case is Norfolk) is brilliant for me. Aside from the obvious benefits of balancing work/family life, it enables me to work with clients from across the UK and Europe without commuting, which I love. I used to spend hundreds every month commuting into an office when I lived in London, so the cost savings are also hugely appreciated.”
The UK’s most time-consuming commutes – with Londoners spending 13 days just getting to work!
| Rank | City | Average time spent commuting (per day) | Average time spent commuting in days (per year) |
| 1 | London | 73 mins | 12.8 |
| 2 | Nottingham | 46 mins | 8 |
| 3 | Bristol | 44 mins | 7.7 |
| 4 | Leeds | 44 mins | 7.7 |
| 5 | Edinburgh | 43 mins | 7.6 |
| 6 | Birmingham | 42 mins | 7.3 |
| 7 | Sheffield | 41 mins | 7.2 |
| 8 | Manchester | 40 mins | 7 |
| 9 | Leicester | 40 mins | 7 |
| 10 | Glasgow | 39 mins | 6.8 |
The study reveals the UK’s most time-consuming commutes, with Londoners spending almost 13 days per year just getting to and from work. Looking at the average amount of time each UK worker spends on their daily commute, people are spending 43 minutes per day on average, with Londoners again facing considerably longer commutes at one hour and 13 minutes per day.
For this reason, SpareMyTime advocates for flexible, remote working policies that are very popular with their employees. Alex Brown, Marketing Manager at SpareMyTime comments: I started working for SMT so that I could work with a much broader range of clients. I have been able to learn so much from my teammates and from client projects, without having to commute to meetings or into an office, all while working flexible hours which has saved me time, money and energy better spent on other things!
Notes to Editors:
- Workers returning to the office figures – According to the ONS survey, 43% of workers in the UK are now working mainly from their workplace. This means that approximately 14.8 million workers are now returning to the office, based on the UK’s workforce of 34.5 million people.
- Average commuting time was gathered using the ONS ‘commuting time by travel to work areas’ dataset:
- Methodology and raw data can be accessed here.
About SpareMyTime:
Founded in 2020, SpareMyTime is a UK-based Virtual Business Assistant firm that alleviates the stresses of modern life with practical, virtual assistance solutions. Comprising a team of 20, the company was born out of founder Melissa Gauge’s frustrations at the difficulties of maintaining an effective work-life balance in today’s modern age.
Following a successful 15-year career in the financial services and consultancy sectors, Melissa experienced the challenges involved in balancing a full-time executive career with raising a young family. SpareMyTime was launched after Melissa became acquainted with other individuals and businesses who were in a similar position to her and were struggling to find an appropriate level of flexibility, skills and knowledge in their day-to-day lives. SpareMyTime is designed to provide a truly supportive working environment where individuals can thrive outside of a traditional 9-5 office structure and receive reliable, high-calibre support to ensure better productivity and peace of mind.
Whether it’s admin tasks, social media management or company bookkeeping, SpareMyTime supports a multitude of individuals and businesses across the UK with its wide range of services. The company currently offers support with virtual business admin, virtual bookkeeping and virtual digital and social media marketing.