While
we move into winter and mourn the loss of those hot summer months, a
lot of us will be forward planning for the winter season and that ever
anticipated Christmas party. Scrooge or not, Christmas is less than
three months away now and invariably venues and buyers will have begun
their Christmas plans in July/August if not earlier. Our Christmas
packages were launched in May.
In recent years, the recession has
affected many budgets with Christmas parties being the first to be
discarded in the name of limited resources. Many companies simply could
not afford to invest in the annual office party while others offered
parties at their own office or gave the option of employees paying for
the evening themselves.
Since last winter, however, the number of
firms booking and celebrating Christmas with their employees has begun
to increase again. This year we have seen a significant increase in
early Christmas party enquiries and since 2012 we have seen the number
of Christmas bookings increase by a total of 40 per cent already.
From
this seeming revival in recent years, it is clear that, perhaps in
spite of any scrooge-like qualities, employers do see the value in the
annual office party. Directors like to invest in their own people and
see the benefit of boosting team morale and rewarding staff at the end
of each year. Not to mention the fact that the good old staff party is
tax deductible, something many businesses are not even aware of.
Thankfully the recession hasn’t left us all Bah Humbugging our way into
the New Year. Let’s face it, as much as we may grumble, we all enjoy the
silly hats and a bit of raucous festive merriment.
Any comments? Email sarah@mashmedia.net
