Another great London christmas party season

23/12/2008

Fortunately, West End Events has had a very good Christmas this year; with all the top show dates and venues sold out well in advance. By the time you read this we will have again produced some of the top, most enjoyable and fun office parties in London over the Christmas season.

That may seem at odds with the press reports about companies pulling the plug on their end of year bash.

Those reports are overcooked. Pulling the Xmas party might only happen in two scenarios.

Firstly, the company goes under before Christmas, meaning no money, no staff, no party.
The reality is that not that many big firms have gone under. The actual percentage is very, very small.

Secondly, the directors or power-that-be in the firm that hold the corporate entertainment purse strings deem Christmas parties to be a ‘luxury’ item, and as such needs to be excised from the annual budget.

The problem with this strategy is that the annual Christmas party is thought of by most staff (and this is backed up by research) as being a ‘necessary’ element of their working year and, in many cases, is their only entertainment perk. Taking this one perk away fosters resentment against the management. Who wants that?

What we have seen is big companies pulling out of £200 per head extravagant events, opting instead for cheaper, better value-for-money alternatives. Especially if they can get a great four-star venue, a fine traditional Christmas dinner PLUS a show, plus DJ and dancing. All for considerably less than £100 per head. Who wouldn’t want that?