RPC cancels Christmas (parties)

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By Bradley Fountain-Green on

14

Firm struggles to find workable dates and venues

RPC will not host office Christmas parties this year in London or Bristol, Legal Cheek can reveal.

As we head into the autumnal month of September, most people’s thoughts fade into pumpkin patches, woolly sweater, and trees turning brown.

But that’s not the case for RPC, who have already decided to call off their traditional office-wide Christmas parties due to calendar difficulties.

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A spokesperson for the firm has said: “The reason for this is that as the firm has grown, it’s been increasingly difficult to find venues or dates which suit the majority at a time of year when calendars are already extremely busy.”

The firm’s combined UK offices host around 480 lawyers and over 200 wider staff members.

However, the firm has confirmed that there are “team entertainment budgets” and “planned Christmas events at a team and practice level”.

Christmas is saved…just about!

14 Comments

nope

who wants to hang out with people from rpc

BMJ06

Doubt they invite members of the general public to their staff party but if they ever start you’ll surely be top of the list

RPC Associate

Utterly embarrassing

MC ass

Most large firms don’t have a firmwide xmas party. If anything, switching to department/practice level social events suggests the firm is maturing.

RPC Associate

This is wrong.

Alaina

Pathetic. They tried to bury/hide the news deep on the intranet. Staff are furious.

C

So their NQ salaries are fairly mid and they are also the grinch..great firm lol

RPCer

Absolute joke, and clearly nothing to do with logistics but saving money. Wonder what they’ll cut next…

Former RPC

The RPC spin doctors are at it again, I’m surprised they didn’t claim they canceled the office-wide parties because they were “conscious of reducing their climate emissions”

RPC Employee

Their full explanation to staff included placing some farcical blame on dwindling numbers/poor turnouts post-Covid. I was at the Xmas party last year and it was massively attended. So that is plain wrong.

Even if that was correct, it’s unfair and wrong to try to put blame on those who didn’t show up. It’s certainly not right to punish those who did show up by cancelling next year. If the turnouts are trending down then just find a smaller venue. It isn’t rocket science.

This also isn’t about scarcity or difficulty finding venues. Unless it is incompetency of the events team failing to look at venues much earlier in the year. You need to book some venues a year in advance for Xmas and the events team should know that.

As others have indicated, this is very likely about money and penny pinching. If the firm doesn’t have the funds, just be open about it. Don’t treat your staff like idiots and think they won’t notice. If staff don’t receive a hamper or bonus in lieu of the party then morale will dip even lower.

Anon

You seem like you’d be really fun at a party…

RPC Associate

I am very fun. I instigate shots. Usually tequila, but sometimes I’ll throw in a sambuca or two to mix things up. I often have slightly above average chat too. I think I am 7.5/10 fun.

Anonymous

Aren’t “events at a team and practice level” treated differently for tax purposes to an all staff annual party so attendees should expect a P111D? Merry Christmas!

Pomme

This is very concerning. Will RPC provide comment?

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