THE East Midlands has been named as the best and least stressful place to work by British tradespeople according to a new study conducted amongst 1,000 van drivers.

Findings of the study concluded that, at a time when the majority of the UK's van drivers (61%) have seen an increase in working hours, almost half (49%) of those based in the East Midlands saw no change in the hours they work.

Tradespeople in the region also reported working fewer hours each day (9.03 hours) than their counterparts in the North West (9.49 hours), London (9.54 hours) and West Midlands (9.81 hours). What's more, East Midlands-based van drivers recorded shorter commutes than any other region, driving 67.95 miles every day for jobs, versus 103.39 miles in London and 98.85 miles in the North West.

With the average daily distance as high as 88.37 miles, this means those in the East Midlands are driving 20 miles less than the average tradesperson every day.This has the potential to save drivers as many as 82.42 hours of driving each year.

It's not a surprise, therefore, that those in the region cited less stress than respondents elsewhere in the UK. When asked how regularly van drivers have felt overwhelmed by work-life balance over the last 12 months, ‘weekly' came in as the most popular response for all regions, except the East Midlands and the North West, with tradespeople there selecting ‘monthly' as a better match.

This is driven home by the fact that, over the same period, tradespeople in the East Midlands turned down fewer jobs (2.84 days' worth) as a result of mental health issues, compared to those in London (4.05 days), the West Midlands (4.06 days) and Wales (5.75 days) reporting the highest number of jobs lost.

The study, conducted on behalf of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, unsurprisingly found that tradespeople in London face some of the most challenging working conditions including more demanding hours and significantly further commutes than the average UK tradesperson.

Says VW Commercials' national fleet manager, Craig Cavanagh: "We understand the challenges that many of the UK's tradespeople are experiencing, but the regional differences have really been eye-opening."