A new national survey by Moneypenny, the world’s customer conversations experts, has revealed the unspoken rules of Britain’s small talk , including when it’s seen as too late to ask about someone’s Christmas.
Key findings:
‘How was your Christmas/New Year?’ The cut-off dates:
- More than a quarter of Brits (27%) say it’s too late to ask about Christmas by the second week back at work, while 24% said it’s too late by 8 January. Surprisingly though, 24% said it’s never too late to ask how someone’s Christmas went, while 10% said the cut-off should be New Year’s Day.
- As for saying Happy New Year, most people draw the line at mid-January
(42%), with 1 in 4 (24%) keeping it strictly to New Year’s Day.
- There were some significant regional variations, for example, 27% of Londoners said it’s never too late to ask someone how their Christmas was, while only 17% in the South West agreed with this
Starting and ending conversations
- The survey showed that a more formal ‘Hello’ is the preferred greeting for the phone – cited by 50% of all those surveyed, while ‘Hi’ is preferred in person (33%)
- ‘Good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’(25%) is the second most popular greeting in person
- Londoners are most likely to start an in-person greeting with ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon’ (47%), while only 13% of those in the North East would use this greeting
- The more modern ‘Hey’ or Americanised ‘How are you doing’ are most popular in-person greetings with younger audiences (15% and 10% of 18-24 year olds respectively), but with only 3% and 5% of 45-54 year olds
The research combines public polling with insights from Moneypenny’s receptionists and PAs, the people who spend every day helping businesses make brilliant first impressions.
“The first week back is always a minefield,” says Amy, a Moneypenny receptionist. “You don’t want to be the one still talking about mince pies on the 10th of January, but you also don’t want to sound frosty. I usually go with a cheerful ‘Hope you had a lovely break!’ and move on.”
“What makes me smile,” adds Lucy, one of Moneypenny’s newer team members, “is how people end calls now. It’s not just ‘thanks, goodbye’ anymore, it’s ‘cheers’, ‘take care’, or ‘speak soon’.
Sarah, a team leader who’s been with Moneypenny for nearly two decades, admits her biggest bugbear: “People who hang up without saying goodbye! It’s so abrupt. A nice farewell just wraps up a call properly, whether you’re human or AI.”
Jesper With-Fogstrup, Group CEO at Moneypenny, says the findings show how British communication keeps evolving, even in small ways.
Jesper said, “From emojis in messages to warmer, more personal goodbyes, our research shows how empathy is still at the heart of connection. We’re constantly analysing these trends to train both our people and our AI Voice Agents, because tone, timing and warmth matter more than ever.”
Having handled 180 million calls and chats over the last 25 years, Moneypenny says spotting subtle shifts like these helps ensure every ‘hello’, whether from a person or an AI Voice Agent, still feels personal. Because one thing hasn’t changed in 25 years of Moneypenny: a good conversation starts and ends with a little warmth.
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