More than half of Britons think tips should be scrapped, data shows, with customers saying they feel ‘pressured’ and ‘awkward’ when businesses add compulsory tips.
As many as 52 per cent of consumers want to see all tipping banned, and instead a focus being turned to fairer wages, according to Hotukdeals’ survey of 2,000 people, shared exclusively with This is Money.
Some 33 per cent in total said they think all tipping should be abolished, while the remaining 19 per cent said they favoured a ban but with some exceptions.
These figures come after a London pub, the Well & Boot in Waterloo, announced a 4 per cent ‘optional’ tip, slapping an extra 30p on the cost of a pint of beer or cider.
Despite not being compulsory, the charge is automatically levied by the pub, meaning punters have to actively ask to have it removed from their bill.
While tipping is fairly commonplace for other service-based transactions, with 41 per cent saying they tip taxi drivers and 30 per cent of people tipping hotel staff, almost a third, 29 per cent, of UK consumers said they never tip outside of a restaurant setting.
Among those aged between 45 and 54, the figure is as high as 37 per cent.
Price hike: The Well & Boot in Waterloo, announced a four per cent ‘optional’ tip, adding 30p to the price of a pint
But tipping is no longer just reserved for these few situations, as card reader prompts are becoming increasingly common.
Between July 2024 and July 2024, there was a 57 per cent increase in merchants using tipping functions on card readers in bars and pubs, according to exclusive data from payments provider SumUp.
However, consumers are largely rejecting these tipping requests, with a 14 per cent decrease in the average tip being left in bars and pubs during the same 12-month period.
This is despite tipping still remaining prevalent in restaurant settings, with a seven per cent increase in the amount tipped between July last year and July 2025, even as there was a 32 per cent increase in card reader tipping prompts in cafes and restaurants during the period.
Restaurant customers tip an average of 11 per cent, SumUp said.
This shift towards tipping in non-restaurant scenarios is creating resentment among consumers who previously saw tipping as a discretionary act.
Some 58 per cent of consumers said they are against being prompted to add a tip when paying via a card machine.
Meanwhile, more than a third said they find it ‘irritating and intrusive’, and a fifth said it puts ‘unnecessary pressure’ on them.
Dan Evans, senior deals content specialist for Hotukdeals, said: ‘The cost of living challenges are affecting people across the UK.
‘More than ever, consumers are looking for both quality and value for money.
‘Leaving a tip can be seen as a small luxury, so people prefer to decide for themselves rather than feeling pressured.’
Back in October 2024, new tipping legislation came into force mandating that all tips must be shared out between employees in a fair and transparent way.
However, with changes to the national minimum wage and employer’s having to up their contributions to national insurance, some small businesses are facing significantly higher costs as a result.
Pushing tips on customers is seen by some businesses as a way to boost payments to staff without increasing prices directly.
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