Interesting Facts

According to a survey conducted by uSwitch.com, 7 out of 10 Brits say they are middle-class, with a strong belief that middle-class people are more likely to be successful. (Only 53% think their parents were white-collar workers, and 6 out of 10 say their grandparents were working class. Fewer than a third of those who called themselves middle class were in a profession — such as lawyer or doctor, even though 3/4 of people believe being a professional is the top reason for being middle-class. The poll also showed that less than a 1/3of us believe our parents’ class or family wealth determines our status, which is just as well in my case, I'd have to go back down t' mine.) Search for "Class" if you want to learn more about the Class system in the UK.

I like accents, I think they make language interesting and varied, but all accents are not equal, and it seems supermarket chain Morrisons agrees with me.  They issued a callout for actors with northern accents to feature in a campaign for the supermarket, but they went on to specify that “nobody from Liverpool” should apply. (The advert, which appeared on the Casting Networks International website, read:- "These films will focus largely on people’s facial expressions. Therefore, it’s vital that their faces have character – something interesting and captivating that will make the film watchable, but nothing glaringly obvious, and we don’t want caricatures. We want quirks: freckles, bushy eyebrows, etc. They should all be warm and likeable. They should be proper working-class people, but not at all like the characters from Benefits Street. They should not sound or look posh, and we should skew towards northern accents." It concluded: "And nobody from Liverpool, please....

A while ago we posted about the new class system in the UK.  Well they're at it again. This fits in nicely with Saturday's Business English session where we mentioned demographics. The LSE have worked out which class you belong to by Income, Education, Work, Likes, Address, and Who You Talk To. (The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Make up 15% of the country with an annual income of £8,253.  They have a low level education, are unemployed or work as cleaners / cashiers, with no cultural interests.  They live outside the South East of the country, and seemingly only talk to each other. The traditional working class -  Make up 14% of the country, with an annual income of  £13,305. Few have a degree of any kind, they work as secretaries, lorry drivers and electricians, and have a moderate interest in music and art. They live in Scotland and Wales, and talk to other traditional working class people. Emergents - Emergent service workers - Make up ...

According to research by the social mobility and child poverty commission, old-fashioned snobbery is alive and kicking in the UK. (Elite British companies are thwarting the career prospects of talented working-class applicants and recruiting applicants from public schools because of their accents and mannerisms. The commission examined recruitment at 13 elite law, accountancy and financial companies who between them appoint 45,000 of the top jobs in the country. It found that 70% of jobs offered by those firms in 2014 went to applicants from public or selective schools, even though such schools only educate around 11% of the population. I'm not in the least surprised, but it's their loss. If you are talented, but turned down for a job because you aren't "posh" enough, open your own company, and put them out of business in a few years.) !Note - A public school is a private school in the UK.  I went to a state school. Source

According to the executive communications consultancy, the Aziz Corporation, you are better off having a "foreign" accent, than a regional British one. (According to UK business leaders, strong regional and "working class" accents can hold people back in their careers, as can "posh" accents. The best accent for a Brit to have is a "neutral one". The worst English accents to have were Scouse, Brummie, Cockney, Geordie and the West Country. If you want to get ahead in business and don't speak the Queen's English, it is better to sound as if you are from America, Europe, India or indeed Scotland than from any English region. Khalid Aziz, The Aziz Corporation )