EUROPE: Hybrid hospitality pioneer The Social Hub is offering people a space to avoid the overconsumption and “noise” of Black Friday with its ‘Block Friday’ initiative.
Block Friday – a Europe-wide initiative by the B Corp hotel brand, will make hotels in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands & Spain Black Friday ‘shopping safe spaces’.
These hotels will offer calm, creativity, and connection above the extremes of consumerism and over-consumption of the Black Friday phenomenon which traditionally happens over the last weekend of November.
Each Social Hub location will host local markets providing guests and neighbours a place to step back from the shopping frenzy and support independent makers and producers.
According to a new YouGov study, commissioned by The Social Hub, more than seven-in-ten adults in the UK (71 per cent) say they don’t believe Black Friday discounts are genuine. Yet despite widespread scepticism, the same survey found that almost one-in-five (19 per cent) of us still feel pressured to spend during the Black Friday period (Friday, November 28 – Monday, December 1).
The research includes responses from 2155 adults taken online between 3rd – 4th November 2025.
More than four-in-10 (43 per cent) respondents who said they spend on Black Friday worry that the event encourages shopping addiction. More than 6-in-10 (63 per cent) Gen Z adults who spend on Black Friday also believe the event encourages addiction.
Feelings of regret and guilt are also widespread, with around a fifth of Black Friday shoppers (21 per cent) saying they have regretted purchases made on Black Friday, while 33 per cent admit they’ve wasted money buying items they don’t need.
Younger generations are particularly affected, with (42 per cet) of Gen Z and 39 per cent of Millennials saying they’ve splurged on unnecessary items, compared with 25 per cent of Gen X Close to 1 in 5 (17 per cent )of Gen Z have even found themselves in debt as a result of Black Friday spending – twice the rate of any other generation.
Despite all that, spending in the UK could top more than £7 billion this Black Friday. Last year the average spend per person in the UK was estimated at more than £250.
Trix Van der Vleuten, chief marketing officer at The Social Hub, said: “The noise around Black Friday has become so loud and overwhelming that it’s easy to forget what matters. ‘Block Friday’ is our invitation to our local community to leverage our spaces for pausing, reconnecting, and making space for real experiences – whether that’s chatting to a local maker, meeting friends, or just taking a moment to breathe.”
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