Why we’re going save millions on the work Christmas party this year

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but also not so jolly that you embarrass yourself at the work Christmas do. This year, however, COVID-19 has taken that potential misfortune away from us, along with a variety of other work-based Christmas activities. But while you might be sad to miss out on the traditional festivities, you and your employer are set to save a fair bit of cash in their absence.

If you’re curious as to the accidental budgeting you’ll be undertaking this Christmas, here’s a breakdown of what we’re all set to miss out on, and how much it’ll save us in the process.

The big do

The office Christmas party is the pinnacle of the professional social calendar. They are, at their most extreme, an opportunity to either make or break careers for those who brave getting in the big boss’s ear after a few mimosas, but for most they’re just a good opportunity to blow off steam and chew the fat on the year with fellow colleagues.

You might think that they’re also a relatively cheap affair, what with the powers that be usually putting a bit of money behind the bar and all, but there are plenty of hidden costs that make these dos pricier than you think.

According the research from the business cards experts at instantprint, we in the UK will collectively save £4.3 billion, which trickles down to £138.97 per head, on not going to the Christmas party. To break that down further, the average party goer’s headline savings will be:

£40.51 on new clothing
£38.58 on drinks
£19.41 on taxis
£12.15 on the post-night takeaway – although 5% of UK workers admit to shelling out a cool £50 or more on food afterwards

As for the businesses themselves, data from Savoy Stewart suggests their spend depends not only on the number of employees they’re catering for, but also where the business is based.

The top five UK business average Christmas party spends per employee:

Birmingham: £37.06 (per employee)
Manchester £34.67
Glasgow: £33.98
Liverpool: £31.50
Sheffield: £29.44

So, for a 1,000-employee strong business in Birmingham, the big end of year party typically costs the organisation a decent yearly salary for one of their workers. Relative small fry to the business, then, but certainly a decent amount to have a good time on for all involved.

However, if you live somewhere like Plymouth, Leicester, Norwich or Oxford, don’t expect much more than a few cheese sandwiches, with employers in all those areas spending less than £15 a head. It could be worse, though – there is one place in the UK where employers spend a mere £8.76 per employee for their Christmas dos.

As chance would have it, it’s Exeter that stands proudly as the lowest Christmas do spending location for businesses. Maybe we’re better off without the Christmas parties for good round here?

Secret Santa stacks up

Secret Santas might be less affected in 2020 as we can all still get on Amazon and post each other something if we wish, but many businesses likely won’t bother to put one together. Despite typically being a cheap activity with a max spend of £5 or £10 per person the usual go to, it all adds up in savings terms when you look at it on a grander scale.

If we take a tenner as the average spend, you get a £280 million combined saving when Secret Santa is taken out of this year’s Christmas equation. instantprint broke this down into some interesting currencies for a sense of scale, those being:

280 million Terry’s Chocolate Oranges
59,701,492 medium Big Mac Extra Value Meals
14 million classic Christmas puddings from Harrods
350,438 iPhone 12s
3,626 brand new Tesla Model S cars

That’s an awful lot of novelty mugs and booze not being given out, but again, a bit extra in our pockets as we head into the new year.

Overall, it looks like the forced savings we’ll make from the lack of or reduced work-based Christmas activities this year will come to a nice little sum. Couple these savings with those made from generally reduced social activity over the festive period, and it appears we’re all heading into the new year with a few hundred quid extra in our pockets.

For us Exeter folk, the numbers suggest we weren’t missing out on much, anyway.