Do you know what the biggest problem is with having the Christmas party on 3 December?’ I asked Colleen the Receptionist. Colleen gave me a look. A look borne of the frustration of spending the morning putting up the office Christmas tree only to be told the beads looked ‘a bit 80s’ by the CEO’s PA.

‘Do you know what,’ she said.

‘I don’t know, so why don’t you tell me?’ I was on thin ice and I knew it, but I couldn’t help myself. ‘3 December is not Christmas.

'It’s practically November.’

I have always thought a sign of a good company is the ability to hold the Christmas party no earlier than the 10th and ideally after the 17th. The Christmas Party should be the last hurrah before the holidays, having it on the 3rd felt a bit amateurish.