Businessmen sit for hours in coffee shops

LONDON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- London coffee shops have become crowded with businessmen who sit for hours using wireless Internet and buy only one or two drinks, a report said.

American media labeled the nomadic, coffee-drinking businessmen the "new Bedouin" after a trend originating in San Francisco coffee shops, The Times of London reported.

"We have 10 tables and if five of them are taken up with single people surfing the Internet and only buying a couple of drinks then we're not making any money," owner of London's The Breakfast Club said.

During the past year, there reportedly has been a 160 percent growth in the number of locations offering wireless Internet service in London.

Some franchised coffee shop owners charge customers for Internet use, but many independently owned shops have lost business from Internet-using "sit in" customers, the Times said.

Businessmen reportedly claim they stay the coffee shops instead of their offices because it is a convenient, cheap and conducive space for them to get work done.