'Tis the season to party! The office Christmas party trends to look out for

Festive breakfasts, decadent drinks and spicy suppers — have one on the company, says Phoebe Luckhurst
Party time: office party season has begun (Picture: Getty)
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year: office party season, when a hunger for current affairs and meaningful relationships is replaced by a furious appetite for morning-after gossip and complex carbohydrates to lift you out of the somnambulant hangover. Technically, you only get one office party, but if you’re canny and/or hot, you can blag your way into something every evening in December.

Preparation is essential if you’re to maximise the month then treasure the lazy Christmas days, stunned into submission by your festive bender (“Fine, Mother, have it your way. I will play Risk”).

These are the trends to look out for.

Theme it

Theoretically, Christmas is itself a theme. And sure, Christmas IS a theme if you want to throw the most lacklustre do in London. But experts know Christmas is an excuse to throw a fantastical themed bash.

“We find our venues are particularly popular at Christmas as there are clearly defined themes,” explains Charlie Gilkes, founder of the Inception Group, which includes Mr Fogg’s, Bunga Bunga, Maggie’s, Cocobananas and DISCO. “This year we have themes such as Wham’s Last Christmas at our Eighties nightclub Maggie’s, a Victorian-inspired Christmas Carol at Mr Fogg’s, an authentic Italian Christmas at Bunga Bunga and a Brazilian-themed Christmas at Cocobananas.”

Georgina Coleman, head of events at Late Night London, explains that Winter Wonderland is a popular theme: she’s transformed Grace in Piccadilly and Minster Exchange in the City into snow-dipped Shangri-Las. She’s also seen a rise in branded company cocktails.

Crimbo curry

Turkey and mince pies are for nerds. National student newspaper empire The Tab throws a massive curry for all its contributors —about 150 — in Brick Lane and then throws a party at its offices in Clerkenwell. At London PR agency Endpoint, they’re also doing a curry in Soho on the Thursday before Christmas. “We have a two-hour slot for dinner,” explains employee Sara Ragusa. “After, we’ll either stay and drink or hit one of the bars.”

Merry brekkie

According to legend, City excess builds to a head in the festive period: twitch-eyed bankers smashing it every night and waking up trouserless, ready for another day trading with your money. They’re still having fun but some are opting for something more wholesome: Christmas breakfasts. “Healthier, cheaper and shorter” is the mantra. The Goring, Savoy and Claridge’s are the top locations. However, it doesn’t always work out as the bosses planned: one corporate mole says: “We tried that once, never to be repeated. We met at 6am in Smithfield for breakfast, were still there at lunchtime and ended up having dinner in Brick Lane, with a midnight finish. It was messy.”

Still, lunches are a bit out of favour at the moment, “and I can’t remember the last dinner that I went on other than an awards dinner,” says a City broker. “Another trend is for private dining rooms at restaurants like Zuma and the Dorchester. Last year they were so full you simply couldn’t get one in December. This year, we’re tending towards private members’ clubs — discreet consumption is the name of the game.”

Dear, oh deer: excess is back on the menu after years of austerity (Picture: Getty)

Firms who think they can get away with nothing are wrong. “One big broking firm did away with Christmas lunches, so one team organised their own,” says a City PR. “Then the head of research stopped it on the grounds that every department would want one. Somewhat bah humbug.”

Festive February

The (very) merry go-round of December means that some firms postpone the Christmas do. Google holds an employee bash in December but this year will schedule one client entertainment party for February: easier than organising something during a hectic November.

Excess is back

For a few years, excess was verboten: it wasn’t a cool yule unless you were sucking the dregs out of an Aldi wine box and dancing round your swivel chair in the break room. But excess is creeping back.

“When we opened our first place back in 2007, we had an amazing Christmas with companies putting their cards behind the bar,” reminisces Gilkes. “After the financial crisis things changed dramatically — champagne sales fell off a cliff — but things are back at 2007 levels now.”

Thomson Reuters is throwing its bash at Building Six in the O2, scoring access to an outdoor terrace with a capacity for 700. Economic consultancy CRA hires out Michelin-starred Club Gascon in Smithfield, where lucky employees sample a six-course wine pairing menu.

Have yourself a very merry Christmas — the boss is paying.

Additional reporting, Lucy Tobin

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