Wyevale survey reveals how Brits behave at Christmas

• One in ten Brits admit to leaving their outdoor Christmas lights up all year round
• A quarter of Brits would rather re-buy than untangle Christmas lights
• Brits are braving the elements to dine outside at Christmas
• Dads twice as likely as mums to escape to the garden on Christmas day

Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC) and YouGov have surveyed the Great British public to delve into consumer behaviour at Christmas. Findings from the survey present a nation of Brits who would rather buy a new string of lights than untangle them, and Dads who hide in their gardens on Christmas day to avoid doing the washing up whilst Mums take charge of Christmas from the word go.

Outdoor lighting

It seems the British have a very complicated relationship with outdoor lighting at Christmas. Just under a quarter of all Brits would rather buy a new set of Christmas lights than untangle their current set. Some of us, however, don?t even attempt this, with an astounding one in ten of us leaving up our outdoor Christmas lights all year round.

Despite this, 57% of Brits that take down their Christmas lights are traditionalists, taking down decorations on the Twelfth night. Our choice of lighting also reflects this trend towards traditionalism, with icicle and fairy lights remaining the most popular lighting choice for Britons with outdoor Christmas light displays. Santa and animal-shaped lighting is the next most popular choice, with residents in the North and the Midlands most likely to include them in their displays. Whatever the content of the display, outdoor lighting is definitely on the rise, with one in ten people planning to add to their display this year.

Brits braving the outdoors

More and more Brits are looking to their gardens as an extra room in the household, with more than one in ten of the people surveyed saying they would use their garden to cook food on Christmas day. The garden is not only a space for cooking at Christmas it seems; a fifth of people surveyed said they had used foliage from their gardens to decorate their homes.

Louise Lee, seasonal buyer at Wyevale Garden Centres said: ?At Wyevale Garden Centres we?ve noticed a general trend towards Brits seeing their gardens as an extra room in the house. We see more and more people getting creative with DIY decoration at Christmas, and at Wyevale Garden Centres we sell small clusters of ornamental berries and floral sprays to help people who want to incorporate their own fresh foliage to literally deck the halls!?

Mum is appointed festive project manager

Family dynamics at Christmas are always complicated, however British mums have come out on top as the Christmas project manager, with 69% of them self-identifying as the family member who kicks-off Christmas in their household. British Dads too admit to their partners taking charge, with only 17% of Dads claiming the leadership role for themselves.

Not only are Mums in charge of Christmas, but they?re also steering Christmas day itself, with Dads being twice as likely as Mums to ?escape? to the garden on Christmas Day.