Takeaways, lap-dancing and shrinks: What recession Britain is getting up to Brendan Miller

Your phone says much about you —not only your mobile phone, either, be it pink, flip-top or doubling up as a personal music centre. Simply by turning to directory enquiries, your home phone offers a snapshot of you — and of the state of the nation, which, according to a report, is riding out the recession by staying in, phoning debt advice charities and learning how to repair its ageing computers.

In the run-up to Christmas, for example, calls to 118 118, the directory enquiries service, seeking the telephone numbers of debt charities rose by 415 per cent, compared with December of the previous year.

Chris Tapp, of Credit Action, an independent debt charity, said that the numbers were unsurprising. “Calls to our helpline are at record levels, nearly double what we'd expect for this time of year,” he said. Moreover, “all the debt advice centres are getting set for a pretty stormy 2009”.

The service run by The Number UK found evidence that people were choosing to weather the economic chill indoors, with the number of calls about nightclubs, bars, restaurants, cinemas, bowling alleys and even bingo halls all down from last year. Even the library appears to be back in fashion, with calls up 50 per cent. Inquiries about satellite television, computer games and games shops also rose many times over.

People have been dining in, apparently. Calls for takeaway pizza were up by 22 per cent.

Health is also an issue. Calls for the telephone numbers of psychiatrists rose by 43 per cent compared with last year, as did calls for masseurs, saunas and acupuncture. Inquiries about aromatherapy were up 62 per cent.

Although some people turned to alternative therapies, others took refuge in excess. Inquiries about pole-dancing and lap-dancing clubs rocketed by 599 per cent. City bankers looking for a final hedonistic fling, perhaps?

Peter Stringfellow, the nightclub owner, said that “tableside dancing”was gaining in popularity. “Does it surprise me? Not at all,” he said. “At this precise time during the credit crunch, my business is as good as ever.” He added that his clientele was not the type to be affected by the recession. “It might hurt the young guys, but not our guys,” he said.

The demand for the phone numbers of cosmetic surgeons, laser hair removal specialists and “nail technicians” plummeted — but the fashion for tattoos continued undeterred. Despite drops in almost every other area of beauty treatment, inquiries about “body art” were up 26 per cent. There was evidence that consumers were scaling back holiday plans, with inquiries for the telephone numbers of travel agents and hotels slipping. Rather, people were looking for cheaper alternatives, with requests for information about motorhomes soaring by 121 per cent.

Inquiries about most retail areas were down on last year, reflecting the high street retail chill and the move to online shopping. Despite the reduction in VAT, consumers were still reluctant to go for big-ticket items such as computers and televisions, with inquiries about both down more than 30percent. The retail-related inquiries that increased pertained to computer repairs, up a third from last year, and those asking for the numbers of charity shops, up 59percent.

The data related to calls to 118 118, one of several directory enquiry services set up when the old BT 192 number was deregulated in August 2003. The company is known for its advertising that features two lookalike men with droopy moustaches. The report compared call figures of December 2008 with those of December 2007. The number of calls per month was approximately ten million in each case.


Source

I can't understand the article.