Determining the UK’S Little Italy

The UK is a multicultural nation, with many countries bringing food, art, fashion, and music. Italian culture specifically is one that maintains a dominant influence within the UK, particularly in certain cities.

New data from Flogas establishes the Italian influence within the 30 most populated cities in the UK based on Google searches by the public, including:

• Language
• Vehicles
• Pizza oven
• Holidays
• Restaurants

To discover which city made the most Italian-influenced searches per capita, the number of searches in each of the 30 cities were compared to their population.

The results have allowed us to explore which city is the most heavily influenced by the culture to determine the UK’s Little Italy.

Peterborough, Newcastle, and Sunderland: the top contenders

The city of Peterborough came in first place for the most Italian-influenced with a final score of 77.41, and portrayed this through their Google searches, scoring the highest for terms like ‘Italian holiday’, ‘gas pizza oven’, and ‘Italian language’.

Following the city of Peterborough is Newcastle upon Tyne receiving a final score of 76.93. Contrastingly, the North East city searched terms ‘gas pizza oven’, ‘Italian language’, and ‘Italian holidays’ the least compared to the other top 4 cities, but instead scored significantly higher for the number of Italian restaurants in the area. Whilst the citizens of Newcastle may not portray their influence through Google searches as Peterborough does, it is certainly reflected through the city itself.

Just behind Newcastle is Sunderland, which demonstrated a similar interest in searches to Peterborough. In addition to a final score of 76.85, the city was the third for searches like ‘gas pizza oven’, whilst being second-highest for the volume of searches of ‘Italian holiday’.

The Italian influence behind a gas pizza oven

Google searches for ‘gas pizza oven’ were high, particularly amongst the top 5 cities that received the highest Italian influence score. Peterborough, which takes the top spot as the UK’s Little Italy, received the highest score in searches for a gas pizza oven. Despite placing fifth overall, Scottish city Aberdeen conducted the second-highest number of searches for a pizza oven, indicating that the interest in this cooking appliance is high, especially when considering the distance between the two cities – implying that it is not location related. Over the past 12 months, statistics reflect that the term was searched the most on Google between 28^th March – 3^rd April last year – suggesting that consumers are keen to purchase a gas pizza oven in time for the warmer months.

Chasing the holiday high

Data reveals that ‘Italian holidays’ was another popular search term on Google, with Peterborough searching for this more than any other city. But why has this been such a popular search within these cities? Travelling abroad has been particularly difficult due to COVID-19, despite a lot of restrictions lifting. So, for those who are so influenced by the Italian culture that they are keen to take a trip there, it can be tricky to do so. The term ‘Italian holidays’ was most popular in the last year between 28^th February – March 6^th, which was not long after the government announced the COVID roadmap on the 22^nd February 2021 to gradually ease lockdown.

The peak of popularity for ‘Italian holidays’ was also just a few weeks prior to the peak time for the search of ‘gas pizza oven’. Therefore, this appliance might have been seen as an option for those who wanted to have an all-year-round taste of Italy without travel. The pizza oven shows an appreciation for Italian cuisine and it is a simple addition to a home. Maintenance is easy, with the main essentials simply being the pizza oven itself, a gas bottle, and the ingredients for your meal.

The UK, despite being influenced by many cultures, has demonstrated a heavy influence from Italy in multiple areas. The impact of COVID-19 has impacted trips abroad, and therefore those in certain cities, such as Peterborough, have adjusted by incorporating Italian culture into their lifestyle in alternative ways.

For more information visit the Flogas  website