ENTERTAINMENT

According to a report from Businessday.co.nz, if work Christmas parties are a sign of the financial times, our economy still has a long way to go.

Across the country businesses have tightened their belts when it comes to spending on the work Christmas do. Barbecues still seem to be the popular way to go for bigger firms; the Warehouse head office in Auckland will be using their allocated funds for salads and a barbecue, and even at New Zealand's biggest company and farmer-owned cooperative, Fonterra, many divisions will be keeping it small. At the dairy giant's Kauri plant in Northland for example, a spokesperson reports that they have a small budget and will probably have a barbecue.