Penny Smith is best known as the main presenter for GMTV news, but it’s far from a glamorous lifestyle, and working unsociable and irregular hours is very common. Penny’s not alone - more and more people are working longer and stranger hours than ever before as technology makes the world a smaller place. But are we really living life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week...and what is it doing to us? Ever Wondered sent her to investigate...

Let’s start with the sharp end of the business - Penny trips down to the international trading floor at Barclays Bank to meet stockbroker Justin Urquart-Smith...

Jenny: So are we a 24 hour society?

Justin Urquhart-Smith: No not yet, but we’re getting pretty close though. Most days we work on average a 13-14 hour day, sometimes it goes up to a 22 hour day!

Penny: Why is that?

Justin Urquhart-Smith: It’s up to what our clients want us to do, if they want to trade all night we’re going to have to respond. It’s mainly due to the internet, they can have access to contact us when ever they want.

Penny: So when do you see your family?

Justin Urquhart-Smith: You don’t, you have a virtual family, with a virtual dog!


If you’d like to develop your understanding of the world of business then have a look at course B200 Understanding Business Behaviour

With a few hours left of trading time, Penny meets some of the other stockbrokers to get their reaction. Most enjoyed it and found the buzz and the excitement of meeting new clients a thrill, while others considered it a way of life, something you get used to. But is it just Penny that has to get up at 4am? She decides to phone a man who knows about time...

Professor Richard Scase is one of the UK’s leading speakers and an authoritative business forecaster of future scenarios.

Penny: You know about future trends. It doesn’t feel like a 24 hour society yet...

Professor Scase: No it isn’t...yet. But in the next 10 years a huge change will happen in the workplace which will change how we work and where we work. The use of time will be very different to what it is today as well.

Penny: Why’s that?

Professor Scase: It’s due to the decline in manufacturing and the growth of the knowledge economy. The future as I see it, is that Britain will became part of the global economy selling information services around the world. This will mean that we will have to work in different time zones and irregular hours. Just 10 years ago that would have been completely unthinkable and very unusual.

Penny: So what does that mean for the future?

Professor Scase: Retail will change, people will want to shop at all times, this will put pressure and demand on other people to work a 24 hour day

Penny: Does that mean that I will be able to get a parcel delivered to my door at 4am?

Professor Scase: In the future as society adapts, distribution process and retail changes, we will probably be able to get anything we want, at any time we want. Look at California today, that points to how Britain is going to be in the next five years.

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