Office Christmas party ‘prime place to network’

A third of UK employees see the annual work Christmas party as a chance to network, impress the boss and potentially achieve a promotion, a study shows.

In addition, 40 per cent of workers believe they can use the event to get to know others sectors of their company and make contacts, according to Orange.

However, only four per cent of people actually set out to impress the boss and 70 per cent do not do any preparation at all for the celebration.

Gary Coombes, director of business sales at Orange, said the party can be a great place to develop better working relationships with colleagues and business contacts.

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"We all like to have fun and let our hair down during the festive season, but it’s good to remember that sometimes, in front of colleagues, less can be more," he added.

Every business should consider having a Christmas party for its workers to boost team spirit in the current economic downturn, Nectar Business recently claimed.