Brits are known for patiently waiting their turn, but a growing number are deciding they would rather pay someone else to do it for them. From viral food openings and beauty launches people across the UK are turning queueing into an outsourced service, and for those willing to wait, it can be a surprisingly lucrative side hustle.
The trend was thrown into the spotlight this week following the arrival of cult Australian frozen yoghurt brand Yo-Chi, which opened its first UK store in Notting Hill yesterday (20 August).
Hundreds of people descended on the area for opening day, with customers reporting waits of up to two hours. Ahead of the opening, several people posted jobs on local services marketplace Airtasker looking for others to take their place in the queue.
Ashley A from Greater London was due to be working in the capital before catching a train home and wanted someone to wait at Yo-Chi, place his order and deliver it to his office near Euston.
Others were travelling much further for the opening. Pierce D and his girlfriend made the journey down from Manchester and looked for two people to secure their places in line until they arrived. Another customer wanted someone to brave the queue and pick up an entire list of treats on their behalf.
And it isn’t just frozen yoghurt that Brits are willing to outsource the wait for.
When Ariana Grande brought a pop-up to Carnaby Street, one Airtasker user was looking to pay £60 for someone to arrive hours early, purchase limited-edition r.e.m. beauty products and vinyl merchandise, before packaging everything up and sending it to Scotland.
Other posts on the platform have ranged from waiting for the popular Jellycat experience at Harrods to spending two hours outside a Notting Hill bakery pop-up and delivering the available baked goods afterwards.
For those on the other side of the transaction, all that waiting can add up.
AJ Hubbins, a 22-year-old design student from Salford, has made more than £600 taking on queueing jobs through Airtasker. His jobs have included overnight waits, store openings and securing spots for sought-after beauty drops.
Figures from Airtasker suggest the demand for professional queuers is growing, with queue-related tasks increasing by 50% over the past two years.
Its research also found that the average Brit spends the equivalent of 15 full days every year standing in queues – and plenty would happily pay to get some of that time back.
Nearly a third (31%) of Brits have either paid or would be happy to pay somebody else to wait for them, while 18% said they would spend more than £200 if it meant avoiding every queue for the next five years.
Despite the appetite for outsourcing the wait, Britain’s famously strict queueing rules haven’t disappeared. Almost three quarters (73%) still consider queue-jumping the ultimate queueing sin, while 48% object to people saving a place for a friend.
So, while Britain might not be giving up its queues any time soon, who actually stands in them could be changing. For some, paying a stranger to wait is becoming a way to save hours of their day – while for others, standing in line is turning into an increasingly profitable way to make extra cash.
