Daniel Solomon, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), has risked public ire by suggesting the UK has too many bank holidays. "The average bank holiday costs the economy £2.3bn," he wrote. "Do we really need so many?" Highlighting the paltry 1,647 hours worked each year by the average British employee – compared with 2,191 worked by the average Korean – Mr Solomon said: "One of the reasons why we work such short hours is our bank holidays." In a typical year the eight bank holidays in England and Wales mean 3pc of weekdays are lost from work. "This puts downward pressure on productivity and hence ... (full story)