Pre-pandemic the capital’s Christmas party season focussed on evening events with Thursdays and Fridays a premium from the end of November to 23rd December.
However the rise in hybrid working has seen a trend for in-house festive celebrations with the company party being used as an incentive to get the full team back to the workplace. According to Bennett Hay the need to reward and thank teams is at an all-time high as companies seek to assert company-wide cultures and as the war for talent wages on.
Zoë Watts, Bennett Hay’s business development director, said: “In the last six weeks we’ve seen a marked increase in seasonal events used as a means to get the workplace back in full swing. Today’s office is the nucleus to network, engage and create so it makes sense for an organisation to capitalise on the of mid-week influx with a thank you lunch or evening reception.
“We’re seeing a new iteration of the ‘office party’ – an event that is quite literally in the office! Many of the clients we work with have significant atriums and communal spaces and it makes sense to bring the company dynamic to life in the focal point of the building and at a time when people expect to celebrate. It’s trend for 2022 and no doubt will have a new nuance next as the workplace turns another chapter.”