Better late than never? Only up to the 29-minute mark...

Published: 02:30 BST, 1 October 2026 | Updated: 02:31 BST, 1 October 2026

Turning up 15 minutes late is 'fashionable' but 29 minutes is the point tardiness becomes rude, research has found.

Push it to an hour and you may as well not bother turning up at all, with 26 per cent of Britons saying arriving 60 minutes late breaks the rules of modern meet-up etiquette entirely.

The survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by SVEDKA Vodka, found a third (32 per cent) deliberately tell their tardiest pal that a gathering starts earlier than it actually does.

And smartphones may actually have made us worse. Nearly a third (29 per cent) believe people have become less punctual since smartphones arrived, while 31 per cent blame the ability to fire off a quick 'So sorry, running late!' message for making lateness more socially acceptable.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) say 'five minutes away' is the biggest fib their friends regularly tell, while 37 per cent know the specific irritation of receiving a 'just leaving now' text when they have already arrived.

But despite the faff, Britons appear to be falling back in love with seeing each other in real life.

More than eight in ten (82 per cent) say they are trying to spend less time on their phone and more time meeting people in the real world, with 51 per cent saying face-to-face socialising makes them happier and 48 per cent describing it as one of life's biggest joys.

In fact, more than two thirds (68 per cent) would rather meet a friend for a drink than spend an evening messaging them online, while a quarter (25 per cent) say catching up with mates is the highlight of their week.

But lateness isn't the only social sin guaranteed to get under our skin.

Constantly looking at your phone during a catch-up is considered poor form by 38 per cent, while 37 per cent object to cancelling at the last minute.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) say bringing an unexpected plus-one to a mates-only night is unacceptable, while 23 per cent are irritated by the friend who insists they're 'easy' about where to go - before vetoing every suggestion.

Even arranging the night itself can test friendships, with a fifth (20 per cent) admitting the endless back-and-forth over when and where to meet is genuinely frustrating.

And 63 per cent say they are now meeting people in person more often than they were five years ago, with the pub (54 per cent) emerging as Britain's favourite place to get together.