<h2 class="ql-section">Maximise Your Annual Leave</h2>
<section class="ql-item" id="s1"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">1</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">New Year</h3><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M42 95V55Q42 45 48 38V24H60V38Q66 45 66 55V95Z" fill="#ffd60a"/><rect x="42" y="66" width="24" height="16" fill="#fff"/><rect x="48" y="22" width="12" height="10" fill="#e63323"/><rect x="68" y="6" width="9" height="12" rx="2" transform="rotate(25 72 12)" fill="#fff"/><path d="M20 14v16M12 22h16M84 38v12M78 44h12M24 56v10M19 61h10"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Friday 1 January</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>Mon 4 – Fri 8 January</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>5 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>Fri 1 – Sun 10 Jan (10 days)</dd></div></dl></div><p>Start the year with a very long weekend and a very short inbox. A Friday bank holiday means you only have to bridge the working week after it, and early January is the quietest week of the year anyway.</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-item" id="s2"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">2</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">Easter Break</h3><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M50 8C70 8 82 44 82 62C82 82 68 94 50 94C32 94 18 82 18 62C18 44 30 8 50 8Z" fill="#ffd60a"/><path d="M20 58L30 48 40 58 50 48 60 58 70 48 80 58" stroke="#e63323" stroke-width="5" fill="none"/><circle cx="50" cy="77" r="4.5" fill="#e63323" stroke="none"/><circle cx="35" cy="72" r="3.5" fill="#e63323" stroke="none"/><circle cx="65" cy="72" r="3.5" fill="#e63323" stroke="none"/><circle cx="50" cy="30" r="3.5" fill="#e63323" stroke="none"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Friday 26 March – Monday 29 March</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>Tue 30 March – Fri 2 April</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>4 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>Fri 26 Mar – Sun 4 Apr (10 days)</dd></div></dl></div><p>The most generous bank holiday sandwich in the calendar. Good Friday and Easter Monday arrive as a pair, so all that’s left is the four days that follow.</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-item" id="s3"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">3</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">Early May Bank Holiday</h3><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M50 14V95" stroke-width="5"/><circle cx="50" cy="12" r="6" fill="#ffd60a"/><path d="M50 18Q18 50 20 92" stroke="#e63323" stroke-width="4.5" fill="none"/><path d="M50 18Q82 50 80 92" stroke="#ffd60a" stroke-width="4.5" fill="none"/><path d="M50 18Q34 56 38 92" stroke="#e63323" stroke-width="4.5" fill="none"/><path d="M50 18Q66 56 62 92" stroke="#ffd60a" stroke-width="4.5" fill="none"/><path d="M8 95H92"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Monday 3 May</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>Tue 4 – Fri 7 May</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>4 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>Sat 1 – Sun 9 May (9 days)</dd></div></dl></div><p>A Monday bank holiday comes with a weekend already attached. Add the four working days after it and you have nine days for the price of four.</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-item ql-item--twist" id="s4"><div class="ql-twist-head"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">4</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">Spring Bank Holiday</h3></div></div><p class="ql-boom">Quit your job.</p><div class="ql-item-body ql-twist-rest"><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M50 96V54" stroke="#2e9e5b" stroke-width="5"/><path d="M50 88Q26 84 20 56Q44 62 50 88Z" fill="#2e9e5b"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(0 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(60 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(120 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(180 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(240 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><ellipse cx="50" cy="20" rx="9" ry="15" transform="rotate(300 50 38)" fill="#ffd60a"/><circle cx="50" cy="38" r="9" fill="#f28c28"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Monday 31 May</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>All of it</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>0 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>Sat 29 May – <em>the rest of your life</em></dd></div></dl></div><p>Hand your notice in on Friday. Smile and wave. Zero days of leave, and as many days off as you like, because the bank holidays no longer matter when every day is one.</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-item" id="s5"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">5</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">Summer Bank Holiday</h3><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><circle cx="82" cy="16" r="8" fill="#ffd60a"/><path d="M82 2v4M82 26v4M68 16h4M92 16h4M72 6l3 3M89 23l3 3M92 6l-3 3M75 23l-3 3" stroke-width="3"/><path d="M34 54L50 96 66 54Z" fill="#e0a96d"/><path d="M40 66L58 66M44 78L56 78" stroke-width="2.5"/><circle cx="50" cy="44" r="17" fill="#fff"/><circle cx="50" cy="28" r="14" fill="#e63323"/><circle cx="50" cy="13" r="4" fill="#e63323"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Monday 30 August</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>None. You are of leisure now, such things are beneath you.</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>0 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>All of it, while the points last</dd></div></dl></div><p><strong>Spend every last air mile.</strong> Those air miles and hotel points have been quietly piling up for years, and they all expire long before you’ll next be able to afford a decent holiday. Use them or lose them. Book the long-haul flight you always said you’d save for a special occasion, and consider this the occasion.</p><p>Take the room with the view, order the breakfast in bed, and ask whether the lounge does a second helping. Put the whole stay on the loyalty card, and nod politely when the receptionist says “are you travelling for business?”</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-item" id="s6"><div class="ql-num" aria-hidden="true">6</div><div class="ql-item-body"><h3 class="ql-item-thing">Christmas & New Year</h3><div class="ql-card"><svg class="ql-ill" viewBox="0 0 100 100" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M18 70Q18 30 50 30Q82 30 82 70Z" fill="#6b3f2a"/><path d="M24 54Q30 36 50 35Q70 36 76 54Q70 48 64 56Q58 48 50 58Q42 48 36 56Q30 48 24 54Z" fill="#fff"/><path d="M10 70H90Q86 88 50 88Q14 88 10 70Z" fill="#ffd60a"/><path d="M50 32Q36 14 24 24Q34 36 50 32Z" fill="#2e9e5b"/><path d="M50 32Q64 14 76 24Q66 36 50 32Z" fill="#2e9e5b"/><circle cx="46" cy="30" r="4.5" fill="#e63323"/><circle cx="55" cy="30" r="4.5" fill="#e63323"/><circle cx="50.5" cy="24" r="4.5" fill="#e63323"/></svg><dl><div><dt>Bank holidays</dt><dd>Monday 27 – Tuesday 28 December</dd></div><div><dt>Leave to book</dt><dd>None. You are of leisure now, such things are beneath you.</dd></div><div><dt>Leave used</dt><dd>0 days</dd></div><div><dt>Time off</dt><dd>All of it, until the savings object</dd></div></dl></div><p><strong>One last excessive Christmas.</strong> Christmas Day lands on a Saturday and the bank holidays follow on the Monday and Tuesday, which is a lot of days to spend at a table with a turkey. Nobody is counting the units now. Pull the crackers, open the good port, and have the third mince pie for breakfast.</p><p>This is your last properly excessive Christmas for a while, so treat it as a leaving do that lasts a week. Then comes the quiet bit between the holidays, when you realise nobody is expecting you anywhere on the 4th of January, and you settle into unemployment in a good chair with a blanket and the leftover cheese.</p></div></section>
<section class="ql-summary" id="summary"><h2 class="ql-section">The sum</h2><table><thead><tr><th>Block</th><th>Bank holidays</th><th>Leave used</th><th>Days off</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>New Year</td><td>1</td><td>5</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Easter Break</td><td>2</td><td>4</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Early May Bank Holiday</td><td>1</td><td>4</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Everything from 29 May</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>217</td></tr></tbody><tfoot><tr><td>Total for 2027</td><td>8</td><td>13</td><td>246</td></tr></tfoot></table><p class="ql-after"><strong>And that’s only 2027.</strong> From 2028 you’ll have the full year off: 366 days in 2028, the first leap year, so an extra day off for free, and 365 every year after that. It only gets better.</p><p class="ql-fine">Dates apply to England and Wales. Weekends are included in the days off, as are weekdays, mornings and the whole of November.</p></section>
<section class="ql-faq"><div class="ql-faq-item"><h3>Planning from Scotland?</h3><p>Scotland swaps in a few bank holidays of its own, 4 January and 2 August among them, so shift the first and fifth blocks to match.</p></div><div class="ql-faq-item"><h3>Short on leave?</h3><p>Leave.</p></div></section>
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