Sodexo Prestige in Scotland sees rise in Christmas party bookings
Sodexo Prestige in Scotland has seen a marked rise in bookings for festive parties this year, as the office Christmas party looks set to make a comeback.
The company provides catering at 17 venues across Scotland. Hampden Park, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Aberdeen Football Club, the Edinburgh Corn Exchange and Hamilton Park and Perth racecourses are all hosting Christmas parties and the average rise in bookings across these venues is 46%.
Austin Tilsley, Sodexo Prestige in Scotland regional director, described the growth in in Christmas party night business as encouraging.
"We are seeing that companies are once again booking Christmas parties to say thank-you to staff for their efforts during these very tough economic conditions," he said.
"We are also noticing this year that more individual groups of staff seem to be determined not to miss out on a festive party, which is why more of them are booking their own office lunch or dinner."
The Sodexo Prestige venue that has seen the largest increase is the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, where bookings have more than doubled this year.
But while it is reporting more Christmas parties than ever, only one of them is being paid for by a company. The rest are being booked by groups of staff.
Smaller groups of up to 25 people from large blue chip companies in Edinburgh are also booking their own Christmas lunches.
By Janie Manzoori-Stamford
E-mail your comments to Janie Manzoori-Stamford here.
Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs
