New Year’s corporate parties are coming back, but you’ll have to save on literally everything

New Year’s corporate party is an integral part of the life of the workforce. They wait for it, prepare for it, then remember and discuss it for a long time. For the last three years, due to the pandemic, everyone was deprived of the right to hold mass holidays, so now many companies are trying to make up for lost time and have begun preparing for the New Year in advance. Our experts told MK how much a holiday for the soul and stomach can cost, and what you can save on.

“I’ve been on the phone all day trying to book a place for a New Year’s party, to no avail. Either it’s already booked, or the prices are so high that any desire to celebrate disappears,” a friend recently complained.

At first, the situation seemed incredible: it was only November on the calendar, was everyone really already preoccupied with preparing for the New Year holidays? It turned out that this is true. Many metropolitan companies prefer to enter into lease agreements for banquet halls for New Year’s corporate events already in November.

There are two reasons: firstly, in conditions of inflation, people are trying to book a place and pay for the feast in advance, while prices have not yet gone crazy, as is usually the case before the New Year. And secondly, people are hungry for the holidays.

“It’s probably due to the fact that for the last few years, because of the pandemic, everyone has been sitting at home, remotely, and was deprived of this opportunity to get together as a whole team. Or maybe people just want to take their mind off sad thoughts. You know that the international agenda is not encouraging. Be that as it may, we now receive many more calls regarding New Year’s corporate events than at the same time a year ago,” says Tatyana, event agency manager.

But when people find out what the approximate budget for the upcoming party will be, most clients lose enthusiasm in their voices and, after mumbling thank you, we’ll call you back, hang up.

“What did they want? Prices for food alone have increased by about 30% over the year, and most importantly, there is no stability in their supply. You never know in advance how much fish or other delicacies will be brought to you today. So we have to mark up more than usual so as not to remain in the red,” explains Artem Savelyev, head of the banquet service of another catering company, explaining the metamorphosis with holiday prices.

Artem does not agree that clients are so frightened by prices that they lose all desire to hold a New Year’s corporate party, but, of course, many are trying to save money.

“Artists have begun to refuse performances more often; now only mega-cool companies can afford to invite a star. The price tag for artists is really off the charts. They also save on all sorts of activities, refuse to conduct quests, entertainers on a large scale, and so on. Well, the table is the core of the holiday; you can’t save much on it. If the menu is meager, then what’s the point of gathering at all?” the specialist notes.

Now, even without the New Year’s markup, the most modest menu per person will cost from 3 to 5 thousand rubles. This is approximately 600-800 gr. portions and no seating, just a buffet on legs. If the company wants to seat employees at tables or increase portions up to a kilogram of food per brother, then multiply by 2. And we are talking only about products; clients, as a rule, prefer to purchase alcohol on their own, however, the banquet organizers will have to pay extra for the provision of wine glasses and glasses.

“There are a lot of little things that will determine the final amount of the bill,” says Artem. – Even the end of the holiday affects the cost of services. After all, if guests stay until midnight, the waiters will have to get home by taxi.”

The most economical ones hold their corporate events in their office, cut fish and sausage for a snack, chop salads at home – and the holiday is ready! True, you may not be in a particularly joyful mood, as if you were celebrating another birthday.

But if you decide to celebrate on a grand scale, then it is better to entrust the preparation of the event to professionals. Although now many companies prefer to organize corporate events on their own: they come up with a scenario themselves, look for a room, they can even prepare a buffet on their own, especially now renting a kitchen from the same catering companies for an event is not at all a problem. But amateurs often get burned on trifles; without experience it is impossible to foresee everything.

“Most often they forget about the wardrobe, as well as a place where women can change clothes and get ready. I advise you to buy bags in advance so that people can put their things in them and leave them in the wardrobe. Take care of security at the entrance; at a minimum, they should have lists of all invitees,” the expert lists all the nuances that voluntary organizers of a New Year’s corporate party may encounter.

Well, the last life hack from our experts: the highest price tag is on the last Friday of December. On this day, only the richest companies can afford to celebrate. And, on the contrary, after January 15, prices will drop sharply. By the way, many companies with billion-dollar turnover, whose workforce numbers thousands of people, prefer to hold corporate events after the New Year. Moreover, we have a wonderful national tradition of celebrating the Old New Year at this time, so it turns out to be both cheap and sincere.