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And Christmas is cancelled!'
Page 23
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Weil, not quite, but many operators are understandably tightening their belts as the party season approaches. Overall. 26% said they are planning a Christmas party for staff, but another 15% said it would be on a smaller scale than in previous years, while 27% have cancelled them.
Logistics/contract distribution businesses seem to have been hardest hit, with 32% having cancelled their Christmas party.
Analysing by primary operational sector, those operators serving the manufacturing industry are fairly evenly split: 35% are having a party, and 34% have cancelled their party. The sector suffering the worst downscaling
construction: 17% plan a smaller event than in previous years.
Reviewing the data by fleet size shows that those operating between 11 and 50 vehicles are the most party-phobic this year with 30% cancelling.
The picture is broadly the same for the payment of Christmas bonuses. Overall. 9% of operators will pay out, but at a lower level than in previous years, while 27% have cancelled the payment. Cancellations are highest among operators in construction and manufacturing (31% and 32% respectively) and those running 11 to 50 vehicles (32%).
Once again, the verbatim statements paint the fullest picture: • 'We feel that it is inappropriate when we have difficult trading conditions."
• ''A pay freeze was imposed earlier this year: it would not be right to spend money on a party in this climate."
• "Redundancies have been made and celebrations are inappropriate."
• ''We have endeavoured to provide a larger bonus than in previous years purely as a 'thank you' for their loyalty and effort through the tough times, and because we had to freeze pay six months ago."
But it's not just the economy:
I "Partly because we had a bad March to July. Another reason is because it seemed to go a little bit stale at the party last year. It is purely a night cut for the management this year"
• "The Christmas parties got a bit boisterous, so 4 stopped them."
• "Staff do not appreciate the time, money and effort that goes into it." Charity's not dead though: • "We have now reduced the party from 300 to office staff only (20 personnel and no partners). We have also done away with the bonus (250 each for 160 staff) and replaced it with a £5,000 donation to the local hospice."