Partner Article

Employees party on despite businesses cutting back

North East employees are booking and paying for their own Christmas parties as businesses cut back on the annual celebrations, according to two of the region’s conference and banqueting venues.

Despite many businesses cancelling their staff Christmas parties this year, County Durham-based Beamish Hall and Newcastle Racecourse & Conference Centre are reporting that bookings by individuals and private groups for themed party nights are strong as employees remain determined to celebrate Christmas and get into the festive spirit.

This year both venues have seen a decline in bookings by large company parties with some cancelling them altogether.

Amy Craggs, managing director of Beamish Hall Hotel, said: “It has been an interesting period for Christmas parties this year and we have seen some of the bigger companies take a serious look at if they can justify holding a lavish party and either scale down their plans or postpone them. However, bookings by individual groups have gone well.

“Having a Christmas night out is a tradition for many people and if their employer isn’t going to pay for it this year, then individual teams and groups are budgeting for their party themselves.”

Mark Spincer, executive director at Newcastle Racecourse & Conference Centre, said: “We have seen a decline in large corporate bookings in comparison to last year, which is what we predicted. However bookings for private parties have remained as strong as ever.”

The Forum for Private Business (FPB) has called on firms to go ahead with their parties this year as an important way of thanking staff for their efforts over the past 12 months.

“Staff Christmas parties are about recognition and appreciation of workers,” said FPB chief executive, Phil Orford. “They are a valuable way of saying thank you to employees for their hard work during the turbulent time. In turn, good employee engagement delivers bottom line results.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .