working in the uk

After eight years working in the UK, I had plenty of differences to compare with my working life in Canada. I’d worked in different offices, changed careers and eventually become self-employed through Adventures and Naps. These are the habits I noticed in the places where I worked, rather than a promise that every office in either country does things this way.

Some of the differences were wonderfully social. Others left me wondering when I was going to get dinner. Looking back while working from home, I missed the gossip and friendships, but I didn’t suddenly miss everything about being in an office.

After-work drinks needed some food

In my Canadian jobs, Friday drinks usually meant going to a bar or restaurant, having a drink and getting something to eat. I’d go home afterwards with dinner already sorted. That suited me. I love food, so combining the two made the evening convenient.

The Friday pub routine I experienced in the UK was different. We’d sometimes leave work half an hour early and go for drinks, then spend hours there without eating. By the time I got home on the bus at eight or nine, I hadn’t had food since lunch around midday. I was hungry and had to get a takeaway or make something at home, potentially while drunk.

I didn’t enjoy that part. People told me “eating is cheating”, and I couldn’t understand the competition we were supposedly taking part in. Who won? I’d been quite happy with a meal alongside my drinks in Canada. Spending the evening in the pub didn’t make me want dinner any less.

Coffee runs became a kettle and a kitty

In Canada, I was often unusual for being a tea drinker. At one of my offices, people would take turns going to Tim Hortons to buy everyone’s coffee, perhaps bringing back doughnuts as well. We had a coffee machine at work, but people still wanted their Tim Hortons coffee.

The UK offices I worked in didn’t have that kind of coffee machine. There was a kettle, and coffee meant instant coffee. Before moving, I hadn’t known instant coffee existed because I’d never seen anyone using it in Canada. The kettle made sense for the tea drinkers, and it meant people making coffee could use the same equipment.

There was also the office kitty, a shared pot of money for things such as tea, coffee, milk and sugar. We contributed, then someone, perhaps the receptionist or office manager, bought the supplies at Asda or Tesco. I didn’t remember having to contribute to a kitchen kitty in my Canadian jobs. There, those supplies had come out of an admin budget. The drinks themselves and the way we paid for them had both changed.

The swearing was a shock

Canadian workplaces varied. I’d been in a serious, miserable office, but I’d also worked somewhere friendly where people socialised, went for meals and had banter. Even with that experience, the British office banter took me by surprise.

In my first UK job, I remember hearing a boss shout a very colourful complaint across the office, calling someone a wanker and swearing about their work. My jaw was on the floor. I wasn’t used to hearing someone speak like that at work. The banter I encountered was typically good-natured, but that didn’t make the initial shock any smaller. If you don’t already know the culture, it’s a lot to take in.

Birthdays meant bringing your own cakes

In Canada, an office birthday might mean a card bought by a manager or administrator and passed round for signatures. At one of the more serious places I worked, birthdays weren’t acknowledged at all. My last big UK office felt very different, with birthdays coming round constantly.

There would be a whip-round, with people contributing money towards a gift such as a bottle, chocolates or a plant. Then the person whose birthday it was brought in the treats. There might be cupcakes or a selection of little cakes in different flavours. I was fascinated that you supplied cakes for everyone else on your own birthday.

I miss the people, but not the commute

Since 2020, I’d been working entirely remotely, either as an employee or on Adventures and Naps. Sometimes I felt nostalgic for the office gossip, making friends and seeing people during the day. Those were parts of office life I could miss.

The commute was another matter. So were smart goals, KPIs and meetings that could have been emails. I was grateful Adventures and Naps had become something I could do for work, and hoped it would continue. If I went back to an office one day, at least there would be gossip. For now, remembering the social parts didn’t make me want the rest back.

Watch my full comparison of working in the UK and Canada.