Whoever said that luxury and entertainment are the first to suffer because of economic crises was right. At least that’s what the staff at Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom is probably thinking right now. Just recently, the big bosses of one of the most reliable and popular banks in the UK issued a statement to the effect that “big fat cigars†and “copious champagne†drinking is not to be allowed in this year’s Christmas parties. The reason? The financial crisis. The Mirror has this story:
The bank also demanded that parties are not booked in Barclays’ name to avoid bad publicity.
The internal email was sent by Paul Titterton, Barclays director for local business in Scotland,
Northern Ireland and North West, to regional managers on October 17. They sent it to workers.
Mr Titterton feared a backlash if lavish parties went ahead while banks had been bailed out by the Government during the credit crunch.
It went on: “It is imperative that… your staff are well behaved (no big fat cigars, copious champagne and generally loud and unruly behaviour).â€
The thought behind the internal e-mail is indeed for a good cause. However, I find it kind of weird that they would not want the parties to be booked in Barclays’ name. Who are they fooling? I mean, people in local areas know who work for Barclays. If a group of Barclay people go to a place to party, wouldn’t it make sense that it is a company party? And so what if people smoke cigars during their party? Does it mean that Barclays is spending for those cigars? If I were a Barclay employee, I would bring my own fat cigars.
Originally posted on October 27, 2008 @ 7:29 pm