When I was a college, I worked for a cargo subsidiary of British Rail. There was a “no drinking if you’re going back to work rule” as it was one rule across the whole of BR. Everybody in the office got round it by saying, I’m not going back to work, I’m going back to read the paper.

Around 2000 when I had a proper job at a software house it was the norm to go for a couple at lunch a few times a week. Only occasionally did it turn into an afternoon.

When I started contracting and working in the City, it was whenever we felt like it – “offsite meetings”.

I now work for a large American corp – it’s frowned upon but we go for the occasional lunchtime one or two, not sure if that’s a sackable offence or not. We make up for it by having at least one work night out a week amongst a few of us.

I used to work for a well known classical music venue in the west end of London.

The organisation is located within spitting distance of three pubs, apparently during the 70s, one of which was accessible via a tunnel from the orchestra pit. Orchestra members would go to the pub during the interval and find six or seven pints (each!) already lined up on the bar waiting for them.

Nowadays it’s frowned upon and for very good reason. Stage hands often work at height and the technical crew need their wits about them. One or two managerial members of staff used to spend their afternoons drinking before returning to work, so something had to be done. The unionised nature of the place ensured that everyone had to abide by the rules and that was that.

Having said the above, some of the after work piss-ups were (and still are) epic. I miss those halcyon days.

avdave2 – Member

When I worked at the MOD we had a bar on site which was open at lunchtime and a pub a few minutes up the road on the island.

Benbecula / the dark Island?

good grief when I first started work in 1985 at an electronics company the lunchtime drinking was pretty much standard practice but I was only 16 then so wasn’t ever invited along. A year or so later when I began working for a PABX installation company, and then on to computer networking installation company it was ridiculous, even though we were out on other companies premises and had to work up ladders, in computer rooms and drive 😯 Usually it was the person who’d drank the least had to drive everyone back – like, oh you can can drive you’ve only had a five we’ve all had seven 😯 😯 some of the stories I can just about remember about afternoons at work and on the way home you would not believe 😳

When I was 17 y/o apprentice , my foreman and the tiffy’s mate used to go down Kells brow and sink 4-5 pints in an hour, every other day. Then continue to work as if they had been on water. I went a few times.
Two pints and asleep behind a panel for me!
This was just before proper H&safety arrived…
Still partial to a lunchtime pint,but being a lightweight , there’s no way I’d want to do any work afterwards.

When i worked in the Jewellery Quarter may moons ago we had 30mins for lunch, used to sink 3 down in that time and then return to work to make well crafted jewellery. 😯

In my first job the company canteen used to sell beer. Never saw anyone buy any and it was phased out quite soon after I joined….

My favourite lunch time drinking session came about during my time in Wales, where I was working during the day as a casual labourer on a small development of houses (the owner’s retirement plan) and at night I worked in the pub. I had recently crashed my car, and had to go and collect my things out of it before the insurance company took ownership of it, and the boss on the building site drove me down, along with the site foreman, as they had errands to run in town. On the way back around 11.30am we stopped at the pub so I could drop my stuff off, and after a couple of trips in, leaving the boss in the car, he walks into the bar and points out the fact the bar is open, so it’d be rude not to have a drink.

He gets the first round in, I feel obliged to buy the second and then the foreman asks if we’re going for the third. Boss looks at him and asks “But didn’t you say back in the day the third pint is the ‘**** em!’ pint?”. “Yeah…” “Right. I declare today a holiday.” I left at 5pm to get ready for my shift, and they were still there when I finished at 12

It definitely was the culture when I started work in central London years back, took me a while to twig when around lunchtime the old timers said they had an appointment at the Irish Embassy and hardly ever came back, Toucan Pub I think it was in Soho

First job out of uni, early 90s, my boss was a polish madman, and his bottom desk drawer was always full of half a dozen bottles of polish vodka. Drinking started about 11am, and you had to have a shot every time you went in his office.

Different job in the same place we used to go out and get hammered on Friday lunchtimes, and take 3 or so hours, bacon sarnie and coffee from Benjis (remember them) to sober up (!) and back to work (or playing tennis in the large corridors if the bosses hadn’t returned from the pub yet). Back out in the evening too.

I think it was a London thing, ‘cos we went out every Friday to a wine bar at my next employer too, but moved out to the countryside in early 2000s and no one seemed to drink – took a while to feel normal…

Only place I’ve ever worked that had a drinking culture was when i did a six month stint as a contract draughie in the O&G sector. Must’ve been the mid eighties.

The guy who got me the gig was my immediate boss and even used to give me a lift. He used to fiddle my time sheet to reflect his, I got warned about that but what could I do?

So, in order to fit in I went to the pub. First time I had a couple pints and spent the afternoon trying to correct the smudged line I’d just drawn (back in the Rotring pen days). Everybody else had three or four. Second day I had a pint then after that only a shandy. We used to drive to the real ale pub about 5 miles away. The gaffer drove, even after 4 pints….

I ended up going offshore with the gaffer and another couple of guys. It was a lesson to see them sweating and shaking in the bothy. They were *real* drinkers! and I didn’t fancy becoming an alcoholic! after that I still went to the pub, but only for food. I don’t miss those days.

Back when I started work my school mates and I used to meet up of a lunchtime and in the nice weather weed (sic) go to the park and have a toke. Sometimes, however, I miss those days…

IT in newcastle in the late 90’s
wasnt really limited to Fridays and many a lunch were spent in the Bacchus or the monkey bar…especially this place on a Firday as the entire office ended up there and they did proper retro bar snacks

I started as a QS in 07 and Fridays always meant a trip to the pub at lunchtime…the old timers would always sink three or four reminiscing about the old days of Friday afternoon drinking. Even the partners used to come and stay out for a few hours but these days it seems to have fallen by the wayside. It only seems to happen when the old boys come back to say hello.

I’m useless though after an afternoon pint. I just switch off so maybe it’s not a bad thing.

I don’t think anyone I work with drinks at lunchtime except when going to lunch with clients and suppliers (and even then not always). I had a boss that set up long liquid lunches with old mates every day because that was his idea of business development – but he didn’t win much business and was seen as a bit of a dinosaur.

In my area, lunchtime drinking is an indicator of badly run, high stress environments. A friend solves problems on trading floors and she was telling me that alcohol counselling and stress management courses substantially reduce regulatory breaches and (unduly) risky trading.

b l x – in I.T., like other industries where there was legendary lunchtime drinking, it was the gradual Americanisation of the industry, outsourcing and no new blood.

This is just a guess – but perhaps American corps wouldn’t have been able to take over, outcompete or outsource British IT workers if they’d been a bit more productive?

I’ve never liked anyone i’ve worked with enough to want to socialise with them on a regular basis. Life is too short to spend any more time than is necessary surrounded by bellends.

Two pint Tuesday
Wine Wednesday
Thirsty Thursday
Three pint friday

Monday a day off.

Working in a creative agency 🙂

tbf don’t go to the pub much as either yoga, gym or running but there is always an excuse and somone to go with should I choose it.

Friday lunchtime beers where an important part of my week when I worked in the UK. Not so much in Australia sadly. Invoicing and checking soil test results is a lot less tedious after a beer or 2.

I worked in a Survival equipment bay on one of the buccaneer squadrons at Lossiemouth. There was no alcohol at lunchtime, but when the Dutch visited, the fridge for the beer was first off the truck. Lots of herbal ciggies being passed around too. Marshalling F16’s in the afternoon was quite leisurely.

My first job had 2 great pubs in the village, was always a lunch and beer Friday, then they made us all redundant and the pubs sold a lot more lunches for the 7 months it took to close down, we had at least 2 leaving do’s a month and during summer nobody batted an eyelid about an hour by the canal pub (half hour saunter each way)
Other jobs H&S/policy had it stopped but ended up on an off site office where it was all fine 🙂

Now over in Oz and working from home it’s much harder, so I just roll on down the bike shop and have a cheeky few down there Fri pm (or any day really 🙂 )