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[Albion] Work Christmas Do
- Thread starter Marty___Mcfly
- Start date
Knocky's Nose
Mon nez est en Valenciennes..
Do most offices still have one of these?
Postman Pat
Well-known member
We have ours on 7th Dec, restaurant in Hove, everything paid for and partners are invited too. Will be about 70ish people in attendance.
Was OK last year but a little disjointed as we were spread around the place and people were all eating at different times. DJ was a bit naff too.
Summer parties have been much better, same premise, food and drink all paid for with partners (and children) invited, but it is much warmer!
Was OK last year but a little disjointed as we were spread around the place and people were all eating at different times. DJ was a bit naff too.
Summer parties have been much better, same premise, food and drink all paid for with partners (and children) invited, but it is much warmer!
pasty
A different kind of pasty
Doing similar. On a whimsy, I decided to drop a note to ex-colleagues from Amex I'm still in contact with via Facebook, and it transpired to be a good idea as I got about 20 of us together.
Jimmehh
Well-known member
Going from your Twitter account, and the email account / job title by someone of the same name, we do work for the same company! Small World
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I left in 2016 so this'll be the 3rd year we've done it. We keep in contact electronically through the year but it's really great to see everyone. They'll be about 7 or 8 of us.
studio150
Well-known member
Aren't we all having a party on Tuesday 4th December at around 9.35pm
Marshy
Well-known member
as an NHS worker no its not paid for !
A few drinks down the pub after work on the 14th is the plan
A few drinks down the pub after work on the 14th is the plan
pasty
A different kind of pasty
junior
Well-known member
Yes, in a decent bar/restaurant in Manchester. Private room. We've paid £55 each and get a 3 course meal and 6 drinks vouchers each.
RandyWanger
Je suis rôti de boeuf
January 24th in Manchester 
swindonseagull
Well-known member
Dec 14th in Bristol.......AFTER a team meeting until lunchtime which ensures everyone attends.......then pub buffet and drinks.....food paid for but I will do a runner ASAP cant be arsed getting a train so coffee for me then I'm off.........Then wifes christmas party in the evening only 1 mile from home nothing free for partners but it will be more fun....
Yes Chef
Well-known member
I'm catering for quite a few over the next few weeks 
First one is on Saturday, got a load of nurses in
First one is on Saturday, got a load of nurses in
Ours is at a bar in Shoreditch this year the week before Christmas. Have a bunch of very good mates at work and we are genuine friends rather than "work friends", then I guess a lot who would fall under the work friends label and even those who I don't speak to regularly are a decent bunch. So yeah, we get a very good turnout and everyone seems to have a good night.
Ernest
Stupid IDIOT
FatSuperman
Well-known member
- Feb 25, 2016
- 2,830
One question missing is whether you are the Xmas party organiser, and whether you get your meal paid for on account of all the effort expended in checking out venues during your lunch break.
The place I work has various teams set up their own parties, my current team will be doing something in a pub local to the office, with a few ex-colleagues joining us. A group of us are staying up here (London) so will carry on after. Company contributes but it’s not enough to even cover the meal. Other teams have ridiculous parties, paid for by the company, with celebrity entertainment etc. I genuinely don’t understand how the differences have come into play. Not that I’m envious of having to wear a tux and listen to Little Mix. Pub meal and splinter group booze up is definitely preferable.
The place I work has various teams set up their own parties, my current team will be doing something in a pub local to the office, with a few ex-colleagues joining us. A group of us are staying up here (London) so will carry on after. Company contributes but it’s not enough to even cover the meal. Other teams have ridiculous parties, paid for by the company, with celebrity entertainment etc. I genuinely don’t understand how the differences have come into play. Not that I’m envious of having to wear a tux and listen to Little Mix. Pub meal and splinter group booze up is definitely preferable.
Self Employed and no staff any more, so no party this year. I might have some Christmas Carols on whilst I'm wrapping presents and crack a beer open. The "£1.29 Christmas Party" is all the rage in my world.
In the good old days I used to put everyone up at the Grand (about 30 in total) and nobody put their hand in their pocket at any time (apart from me) and I've had a bill of £6,000 before. I didn't care though as it was a thank you to my staff and suppliers. We all got on, every single one of us - and had some absolutely brilliant times.
My best mate makes sure Waterstones Books get their stock delivered on time. He's on for an £8,500 bonus and a swanky party. His ex-wife worked for Sainsburys and made sure they got their toilet rolls and kitchen rolls on the shelves.. and got a £13,000 Christmas Bonus a couple of years ago, with the Xmas knees up at the Grosvenor on Park Lane.
My wife saves Children's lives for a living for the NHS. She gets a £5 Costa Coffee gift card and a box of biscuits on the unit.
How very true.
37 years ago (FFS) I worked for a publishing company in Holburn, between my degree and starting my doctorate. We had our party at the Grosvenor. Table service but open bar. I popped up for a cheery Christmas Tia Maria, and the barman poured me half a pint. Train ride back to Crawley was memorable. So I'm told....next morning the bedroom smelled like someone had been boiling up coffee beans in a caultron of vodka.
My earlier quip about working for a university meant that....my colleagues have organised a 'do', with students invited. Apparently seven students have signed up.
There will be some wine (which will be tolerable) but we are expected to play games. Twenty tosser academics and a handful of timid undergraduates, plus one or two gobshites. I have agreed to attend this year. I don't normally like a piss up in London as I have a tendency to fall asleep on the train and miss my stop. A 25 mile cycle back from Birchington to Fav in the rain on a bike with no lights, from 12.30, with a soggy arrival at three in the morning is not top of my agenda. Last time I did that was 1990. I am now 60. So I will take it easy next week. If I do have an 'accident' I will be sure to post an update here. 
Oh **** me. I just remembered our Christmas party in 1980 at the Royal Pavilion Tavern in Brighton. This was for those of us who worked there (I was a barman). Most of us were students or recent graduates between jobs, all fairly 'right on'. Our group included the famous actor John (Aden) Gillett, who had just graduated in English at Sussex. Top, top lad. Funny as ****. Anyway, we had our dinner 'upstairs' above the pub. There was a big bovine bloke much older than us who did the taxiing (taking the bar staff home after the evening shift). I forget his name. Taciturn was his nature. Anyway, we were all ten sheets to the wind when said chap stands up to tell a joke:
'This 6 foot n***** walks into a bar'.....
Hushed silence. We all looked in pained agony at the black girl who worked in the kitchen....
"Sorry love, no offense"
We all exhale.
"Anyway, this six foot n***** walks into a bar......"
You can only imagine the carnage. Bladders were tested to their elastic limits
'This 6 foot n***** walks into a bar'.....
Hushed silence. We all looked in pained agony at the black girl who worked in the kitchen....
"Sorry love, no offense"
We all exhale.
"Anyway, this six foot n***** walks into a bar......"
You can only imagine the carnage. Bladders were tested to their elastic limits
We're doing an Arcade bar this year (in Clapham FFS). Have seen all types of Christmas dos - from big swanky hundreds of people black tie things to just going to the nearest bar and getting hammered. Pluses and minuses with both ends of the spectrum, but whatever we do there will be complaints, moaning, and whining. Company contributes a budget per head which we can use 'how we want', with usually the senior people chucking in extra when that runs out
Last year we simply took a reserved section in a nearby bar and arranged for food and drink to be brought out. Some complained they didn't get enough food, contractors (who have to pay because the subsidy isn't paid for them) complained they didn't get VFM, some wanted a more formal thing and to use their allowance differently and the poor girl that organised it spent a week afterwards dealing with hassle
We nearly always have some form of scandal too. Two of the last 3 years have led to HR cases being started.
The formal ones are usually crap too. Last one I went to was in Greenwich - 250 people, 'arranged' seating to make sure people 'mixed' (so you were quite likely to end up next to a BC), expensive, crap food and a pain to get to/from. Also, the organisers (multiple PAs from across the few functions involved - who of course could do NOTHING else for months because they were 'working on the Christmas Party') sent out an advance 'instruction sheet'. The pre-do agg on this one was the senior management decided that all staff below a certain grade wouldn't pay anything, then a sliding scale after that (MDs £250, Directors £150 etc) - problem is they insisted on people paying even if they weren't going, which led to yet more issues
Typical 'Instruction sheet'
Guests will arrive between 7.05 and 7.15
ONE glass of Prosecco is included on arrival
HALF a bottle of wine per person will be delivered to the table
etc etc
Bah humbug.