To think £38 for a Christmas meal is a lot?

[MrsGinnyPotter]

Work have just announced the annual Christmas meal. It's £38!! I know it's not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things but for a Christmas dinner with a cracker and a bit if pudding it just seems a lot!! We usually lay around £25 for the Christmas meal which is fair enough but this just seems a lot.
It's not a huge work place and everyone is unofficially expected to go. I will go as it would create a lot of problems not to but it just seems a lot.

There were cheaper options but this was the most popular!

£38 to eat with people with whom the only thing you have in common is work....not a chance.

Lynette - you rock! I did that in my last job too, every year they looked at me as if I had 2 heads.

I hate it when it's put to the vote.

We had 5 options-

3 of them would be covered by work, 1 is a £35 additional fee and 1 is £9 additional fee.

Which do my colleagues vote for? £35 one! Gah. I voted £9 one.

I'm glad they're loaded as I am certainly not! Ridiculous.
I have just looked up the venue and they are charging nearly £70 a person for a Sat night in Nov. So work pays for half. I can't believe it!
It is a 3 course meal all inclusive drinks, disco and added extras but I still can't believe it is worth £70 a person.

I could cook a three-course meal with wine for ten people for £70 no problem. That much per person is absurd for a works do.

That's incredibly expensive for a pub meal with no drinks.

I probably wouldn't pay for a work Christmas meal at all, and definitely not £38 for a pub meal.

I happen to like my colleagues but if I spend a night out with them on my own dollar, then I expect to choose the venue and the occasion.

If it's glorified school dinners at the local pub, then that's a ridiculous price. I would want something nicer than I CBA to cook myself for that sort of money.

They have chosen the venue themselves, Misti. It's just that the OP's colleagues voted for the expensive one!

I would not on a million years pay for a works Xmas do. Evening in the pub with friends from work = fine. Evening sitting next to smelly Kevin and opposite dull Colin - no way

That is expensive for a meal in a pub with no drinks unless you work in London. Do you have to go?

Wow, I didn't realise people had to pay for their work xmas do's theirselves! That's outrageous.

I've never worked any where where the company hasn't footed the bill for everything, including unlimited alcohol. But then again we have our xmas parties in Janurary as November & Decemeber are our busiest time (I work in hospitality) So probably quite a bit cheaper. Still . . .

Our work was looking at a do in a posh local tourist attraction for £55 which included the table for the night, a four course meal, band, disco, self-serve taco stand at 11pm and limited wine on the table and there were some that thought that was on the pricey side. Thirty eight quid for an average meal in a pub? Fuck that for a game of soldiers. Unless your workmates are fantastic raconteurs I'd be giving that a miss.

Though you've left it a bit late; I start nagging about the Xmas do in July because a lot of the decent places and dates are taken by August/September. If you leave it until end of October you're usually faced with a lunchtime sitting on the last Wednesday in November.

Fuck that! Although I should say I live in Yorkshire so it's fairly cheap here. I often organise my works do and I think that's extortionate. Even in London surely somewhere like All Bar One could do cheaper?

As I said, I often do my works do and often poll a couple of options. But I always bear in my when looking at the cost, people would rather spend a bit more money on their families at that time of year. And if you think, would they rather spend £50 on their kids or their partner or their Mum or on xmas day bailey's or a couple of hours with their colleagues, it's a no brainier. People just won't come. I wouldn't go.

I'm surprised that so many people are surprised that many of us have to foot the bill for a Xmas night out ourselves! If you work in the public sector or for a v small firm I think it's the norm.

mileend I'm guessing you don't work in the public sector? IME taxpayers' money isn't used to fund our fun.

I don't know where you live OP (sorry if I missed it), but I'd find that a bit steep for outside London.

Can't wouldn't dream of daring to comment on the cooking in your £70 scenario, but the wine would definitely be rubbish. And, which is worse, in very short supply.

I worked for a large private international and they started charging about 10yrs ago. Only $20-25 pp. they did it as they would get RSVPs then people wouldn't bother to show up, wasting the booked meals etc.. It's still a great, cheap night.

No way would I go if it was clear we had to pay more than that, or for a pub meal.

Ours is £40 for three courses and entry to the attached nightclub. No alcohol included. It's a very nice hotel with lovely food and we went to the same place last year so I guess we thought it was worth it. We pay ourselves - public sector here! I don't go out that much so I'm happy to spend a bit on myself at Christmas. Plus I get on with my colleagues who are good value on a night out. Not in London.

Ours is costing £35.00 this year .
It's a 3 course meal no wine
It's a proper restaurant though
I wouldn't pay that for a meal in a PUB

I would think £38 is too much if you have a range of staff/pay grades. Could anyone say they wanted to come but just have olives and soda and lime?
Add it babysitter/transport/ drinks and it's a pricey night out.

Hate the way it costs soooo much more to eat out in December. It's not chuffing Christmas Day , It's a normal month with a few more office parties than normal.

Our work has given up with evening Christmas dos because the number of people wanting to go dwindled massively. It was usually about £30 for a not great meal with 'entertainment' or dancing in a city centre hotel.

Now we have a 3 course lunchtime meal in a local gastropub, which is £18 (they do the same menu at night for £23) - but the food is excellent. £38 is extortionate, especially if it's fairly basic.

We usually take the afternoon off then go drinking in the afternoon/early evening afterwards.

Being public sector, we have to pay for anything we do ourselves - no workplace funded meals out allowed.

Yeh that's a lot. Ours is a tenner for meal and one drink then do a kitty behind the bar

I work in the third sector and we've never had a paid for Christmas meal.

They've started asking about to see if people want a meal this year but I doubt if enough people will want to go. Much easier to organise a drinks night out really.

Christmas dinner is a rip off everywhere, saw a ad for a pub ' christmas day dinner ONLY 49.99 per person! ' I know its the actual day, but the only got me! Not sure what it was on normal days though.
I knew someone who went to a carvery xmas day.. Said the queue was horrendous, cold roasties, never again!
Try to look around for something cheaper and suggest that? Its a lot of extra expense.

£49.99 for Christmas Day dinner is cheap though. All the staff will be on at least double, if not triple time.

Bare minimum is waiting staff, bar staff, couple of chef's and a kitchen porter. Think about it, would you work Christmas Day lunch, (usually a 4/5 hour shift) for £6.50 per hour? I'd want a damn sight more than 30 quid to fuck my Christmas day up.

I'm genuinely shocked that you can be "expected" by your employers to go to a function like this! Why??