Christmas, the season of goodwill, is also a time of peril. Selecting presents for family and friends may be a problem: what did we get them last year, are we spending too much or too little?

Dealing with customers by contrast seems so much simpler. Expense is not a major problem. After all, it’s for business and, the more important the customer, the more expensive the gift. Family members receive our presents because either we like them or are stuck with them.

We love our customers because we cannot survive without them and there is no guarantee that they will stick with us and therein lies the dilemma. We want to keep our customers happy, yet do not wish to fall foul of the Bribery Act.