Restaurants have announced prices for New Year’s corporate parties: a lot has changed

Last year, many Russian companies abandoned New Year’s corporate events for ethical reasons, but now people understand: life goes on, and they will have to celebrate the New Year. There is just over a month left before the official start of the holiday season—corporate events start on December 9—and most restaurants have already posted prices and menus. “MK” figured out how much money you need to prepare for the holiday.

In the regions of Russia, they are still skeptical about the idea of ​​singing and dancing in honor of the New Year. For example, 15% of Chelyabinsk companies intend not to hold New Year’s corporate parties in order to minimize costs, and in the Omsk region 20% of organizations decided to cancel New Year’s parties for the sake of saving. However, in Moscow, of course, the situation is different.

– Previously, our team had a wild party for the New Year, we took people to country holiday homes, ordered theatrical performances, etc. – says the head of a capital company that sells construction equipment. – But since the pandemic, everything has died down for us. Last year we already decided to resume our corporate events, but we celebrated the New Year in a much more modest way – at a bowling alley. There is less work for us and people, we have optimized the structure. Just as people went remote, many remained there. But for the New Year, of course, we will gather everyone. This New Year, most likely, we will organize a banquet in our office for twenty people. We’re all waiting for the staff to start nagging us about this. But so far no one is interested. Of course, we do not take money from employees for the New Year.

“Starting from the pandemic, when our guests disappeared and the hotel began to save on everything, only now our corporate life has begun to gradually come to life,” an employee of a Moscow hotel of a well-known chain shared with MK. – And before, we had a big party on New Year’s Eve – with a host, competitions, quizzes, a luxurious banquet, and so on. Of course, everything took place in our hotel. Since 2019, we have not celebrated at all, and only last year the management arranged a small buffet with champagne for the employees and congratulated us. We have a team of approximately 100 people. They haven’t told us anything about this New Year yet, but everyone is sure that the management will throw a New Year for us on a grand scale, like in the old days, since our business is slowly picking up.

Recruitment consultant and psychologist Svetlana Lenkova, at the request of MK, surveyed her clients, top managers of large companies.

“After conducting a survey, it turned out that almost everyone will host New Year’s corporate events offline this year,” the expert told us. “Moreover, even those who did not do them last year, and those who have not had them since the beginning of the pandemic, will do them. Everyone is positive and actively preparing. No one will organize in their offices – they will gather the team either in restaurants, or outside the city in holiday homes. Moreover, if some people in some organizations remained remote (after the pandemic), then the management strives to gather all the workers “live” for the New Year, many hold corporate parties for this purpose. And only two companies announced that they would hold their holiday in the format of online gaming corporate events. During the pandemic and the mass transition to remote work, many options for remote “team building” and online communication games have appeared to unite and entertain teams.

Meanwhile, prices for prefabricated New Year’s corporate events for 2023-2024 have already appeared on thematic resources. Gatherings are when a team walks in the common room of a restaurant with other guests, and not in a separate room. Prices range from 2,000 to 15,000 rubles. from the guest. You can have fun practically for nothing – for example, an establishment in the Domodedovskaya metro area offers to pay 3,500 rubles. from the nose. Time – all December, capacity – companies from 5 to 50 people, the program includes a DJ, Father Frost and Snow Maiden, competitions and live music.

Gatherings in a higher class restaurant (on 1905 Street) will cost 13,000 rubles. per person. Specific dates are already indicated here: December 16 and 20 from 18:00 to 23:00. The party program includes prosecco, and you are welcome to bring other alcohol with you (with a corkage fee of 1000 rubles per bottle).

Parties on ships are popular: of course, we are not talking about navigation in December, but it is quite possible to have fun on a ship standing at the pier. A ticket to such a festival will cost 14,900 rubles per person, but you need to prepare for fun in a large crowd – not only your company will be there.

There are not national teams, but individual corporate events, that is, in separate halls. In this case, a deposit is made, for example, in some establishment it is 600,000 rubles, while the price per person for the New Year’s corporate menu is from 3,000 rubles. In another restaurant the following deposit is indicated: the total cost of the banquet is 700,000 rubles, there is no rent until 00:00, after 00:00 – 10,000 rubles per hour. Almost everywhere you can bring your own alcohol (with a corkage fee from 500 to 1000 rubles).

Some places are already accepting orders for corporate gatherings. Some restaurants offer early booking discounts. So, in one of the establishments, when ordering a corporate party before October 30, 2023, and with an average check per guest, you can bring your own alcohol without a corkage fee.

Few companies decide to organize a corporate event directly on New Year’s Eve with a collective listening to the chimes. This can be explained simply: employees with small children will not go to such a party. And you can’t take all the family members you want with you to a late-night corporate “party.” Nevertheless, the sacrament of the transition from the Old to the New Year is usually experienced in the family circle or with close friends.

Just like that, without a program, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to book a table on the most magical night of the year – all the more or less decent restaurants and cafes (with the possible exception of shawarma shops) host an “NG meeting” from 10 p.m. to 4-5 p.m. morning.

If you go downward, then one of the most expensive nights with a living “star” will cost from 40,000 to 60,000 rubles in a posh restaurant in the center of Moscow. per guest (depending on the location of the table). If you want, for example, to celebrate the arrival of the New Year in a banquet hall on Bolotnaya Square, pay 27,900 rubles. per guest of the Standard category (or 54,900 rubles of the Premium category).

More modest restaurants offer to pay 12,000-15,000 rubles for New Year’s Eve. per person (with alcohol, banquet menu, host and musicians). The lowest prices were found in a small entertainment complex with a bowling alley in the Ostankino area – 3,500 rubles. from the guest. In an ordinary regional restaurant you will have to pay about 6,500 rubles.

Another aspect of the pre- and New Year’s period is the festive celebration of “pop stars”. The “stars” are still wondering how much money they should ask for this year for their priceless body and voice. In one of the agencies, when we asked them a question about performers’ fees, they answered us evasively: “In the new realities, everyone waits until the last minute.” It can be assumed that the most expensive will remain the same favorites who took the most money for their performances last New Year. For example, this is Grigory Leps, who usually asks for 100 thousand euros, Agutin (who will sing for about 3 million rubles), singer Zivert (5 million rubles). Philip Kirkorov previously estimated his output at New Year’s corporate events at 10 million rubles.