London has turned queueing into something of a competitive sport. Whether it’s a new bakery, a fashion sample sale or the latest TikTok-famous food opening, nothing says “this must be good” quite like a line stretching halfway down the street.
But some Londoner’s have found a shortcut. Ahead of Australian frozen yoghurt brand Yo-Chi opening its first UK store in Notting Hill this week, customers are already advertising for strangers to secure their spots.
On local services marketplace Airtasker, Ashley A wants someone to queue at Yo-Chi, place their order and deliver it to their office near Euston before they catch a train home.
Another pair who are travelling down from Manchester, are looking for two people to hold their places until they arrive. Another customer wants someone to queue and buy a full list of treats on their behalf.
And Yo-Chi isn’t the only opening people have paid to skip the wait for. When Ariana Grande’s pop-up came to Carnaby Street, one Airtasker user wanted someone to arrive hours early, buy limited-edition r.e.m. beauty products and vinyl merchandise, then package and ship everything to Scotland.
Other jobs have included queueing for the popular Jellycat experience at Harrods and waiting two hours outside a Notting Hill bakery pop-up before buying and delivering the available baked goods.
For some, other people’s impatience has become a lucrative side hustle. AJ Hubbins, a 22-year-old design student from Salford, has earned more than £600 taking on queueing jobs through Airtasker, including overnight waits, store openings and sought-after beauty drops. Demand appears to be growing. Airtasker says queue-related tasks have increased by 50% over the past two years, while its research found the average Brit spends the equivalent of 15 full days a year queueing.
Nearly a third (31%) have paid or would happily pay someone else to wait for them, while 18 per cent would spend more than £200 to avoid every queue for the next five years.
Britain’s queue etiquette, however, remains firmly intact. Almost three quarters (73%) consider queue-jumping the ultimate queueing sin, while 48 per cent object to someone saving a spot for a friend.
That doesn’t mean everyone plays by the rules: one in five said they’d consider bribing a fellow queuer with snacks, flirting or even pretending to be staff to get ahead.
In a city where a viral opening can mean sacrificing hours to a queue, paying someone to do the waiting is starting to look less like an oddity and more like another London convenience.