Unless you were hiding under a rock, you’ll most likely know that yesterday saw the running of the 154th Melbourne Cup!
Congratulations to Protectionist and your connections!
The first Tuesday in November is not a public holiday for me as I’m not in metropolitan Melbourne, but I did manage to take a break for some champers and fruit while watching on the television…the evidence is in the attached photo…
In keeping with all things numbers, I thought I’d research a few facts and pass them onto you…the following were found in a report prepared by HR firm “Randstad” back in 2010. I’m sure the figures are a bit different in 2014…but they paint a pretty good picture:
- 77% of working Australians spend 3.5 hours or more celebrating the occasion
- 15% of working Australians watch the race then return to work
- 8% of working Australians are simply too busy to watch at all…??
- there is an increase of 25% on the number of full-time employees who call in sick on the Wednesday following “Cup Day”…(bad form I say!)
- 14 million Australians spend $400 million betting on the Cup
But my favourite statistic has to do with the spend on fashion, with retail spending in Victoria (remember this was 2010) hitting $53.1 million! This includes:
- 62,000 hats and fascinators
- 60,000 pairs of shoes
- 50,000 dresses
- 30,000 items of jewellery
- 27,000 ties
- 21,000 handbags
- 18,000 suits
- 17,000 items of underwear
- 14,000 shirts
- 11,000 pairs of sunglasses
- 13,000 pairs of socks or pantihose
While I contributed a little to the betting ring, I’m saving my fashion spend for another special occasion this year…
Did you participate in Melbourne Cup celebrations? I’d love to see some pictures…(feel free to tag me on Instagram or Twitter – @bronthetaxchic)…
Regards
