Many
staff Christmas parties are being scaled down or face the axe as businesses
struggle to come to terms with the economic downturn.
Financial
institutions, which are traditionally big spenders when it comes to the office
party, are reconsidering the amount they spend on staff during the festive
season.
Bloomberg,
Commerzbank Securities, JP Morgan Chase and Granada TV are all scaling down or
aborting parties in the face of falling revenue or as a mark of respect to
those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center.
One
local authority, however, has done the exact opposite and is spending nearly
£160,000 on a Christmas party at the London Hilton Metropole for 400 staff.
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Lambeth
Borough Council has been criticised for the event, paid for with taxpayers’
money.