Leisurely lunches during the working week appear to be a thing of the past, with the majority of employees now saying they mostly eat lunch at their desks.

A survey by restaurant bookings website toptable.co.uk found that 96% of its members regularly ate at their desks, with a quarter never escaping the office in the middle of the day.

The trend is even spilling over into business lunches, with 84% of those surveyed claiming they did not take clients to lunch as regularly as they once did.

Karen Hanton, Toptable managing director, said: “With potential lunchtime diners spending an increasing amount of time at their desks, this news may prompt more restaurants to consider introducing 'express' lunch menus and special offers to entice people out of the office.”

The findings of the survey correspond with those of the Lunchtime Report from contract caterer Eurest released last month, which found the length of the average lunch had shrunk to just 27 minutes.

by Nic Paton

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