UK: Perspective - Make entertaining entertaining.

The party season is upon us once again and a business beano or two is unavoidable. But don't complain, says Winston Fletcher, a knees-up needn't be unproductive.

Christmas is coming and British business is grinding to its annual festive standstill. For most of us, it means a jamboree of gluttony: eating and drinking, followed by yet more eating and drinking - noon, evening and night. (But not, I hope, morning.) I am quite sure that we, in Britain, do more entertaining and less work in December than other nations, though I have never seen any statistics to prove it. (Maybe the researchers are all too busy getting sloshed to collect the data.)