Where are you reading this? In the office? On your Blackberry? Or, most likely, in a coffee shop?

If you are currently enjoying a latte whilst going about your daily business then you’re far from alone – in fact you’re now officially known as a “new Beduin”, a phrase first coined by the US media to describe the growing band of nomadic workers for whom coffee shops, wherever they may be, are their chosen place of work.

A new survey published here in the UK estimates that 75 per cent of workers visit a coffee shop regularly, with two thirds of them drinking their coffee - be it talle, grande or vente - whilst putting in the hours that, until recently, would have been spent behind a desk.

In London the growth of these new workers has led to a 160 per cent increase in the number of wi-fi hotspots available in the capital – a figure that reflects a growing global trend.

The Times ran interviews this weekend with two entrepreneurs who had set up their businesses from a coffee shop in Soho. One of them, Chris Jackson said: “You don’t need to work from one place anymore but people still sit there in offices grinding out emails. If what you are about is coming up with new ideas then it’s a pretty awful way.”

The coffee shops aren’t complaining either – normal business etiquette dictates that one drink should be purchased an hour – and although that’s a hell of a lot of coffee it seems to be a price worth paying for a more creative environment. Happy supping.