The first question was whether we should have one at all. I know lots of companies have decided against it this year – partly because cash is tight, but largely because they don’t want to be seen to be fiddling while Rome burns. Someone told me the other day that private equity firms are so desperate not to be seen enjoying themselves that they’re coughing up 80% of the cost of their parties – but not actually having them. As far as the City’s concerned, Christmas seems to be cancelled this year.

And to be honest, this idea was quite appealing. If you’ll permit me to go all ‘bah humbug’ for a moment, I’ve always resented shelling out for Christmas parties. Not because I’m too much of a skinflint or because I’m lacking in love for my fellow (wo)man (well, perhaps partly that) – but because there are few things that annoy me more than being ripped off. And Christmas parties are a total racket: every year pubs and restaurants get away with charging a ludicrous amount of money to serve up a limp piece of turkey, two cold roast potatoes and a frozen mince pie (I thought this year we’d at least have a chance of snagging a bargain, but as far as I can see the Christmas menus are just as a big a rip-off as they always are).

But eventually I decided against it. For one thing, cancelling Christmas might save me a few quid, but it would go down like a lead balloon with my team – it’s one of the few things they’ve had to look forward to recently. And I reckon that as far as the outside world is concerned, not having a party could look even worse than having one – everyone would think we were on our last legs. But it’s more than that: great social events are part of the mythology that grows up around a small company – I quite like it when embarrassing stuff happens (as long as it doesn’t involve me) because it creates a kind of shared history and (I think) increases people’s buy-in. So the party’s going ahead, even if it will cause my physical pain to sign the cheque.

However, that gave rise to a second question: who should be there. As I mentioned the other week, I have two people that I’m dubious about – and I’m increasingly thinking that one of them definitely has to go. The thing is that I’ve had a word, my HR manager has had a word, and I’ve still not seen any noticeable improvement. I’d expect that someone who’d had a rocket would at least buck their ideas up for a while - the question tends to be whether this is a temporary or a permanent change. But with this girl, she just seems to be ticking along as she was before. Not good enough. The longer it goes on, the more I’m convinced we can manage without her.

And if I’m going to make her redundant, there’s a very good argument for doing it right now. It seems incredibly harsh to do this to someone just before Christmas, I admit – but otherwise I just end up paying her all through December, when there are zillions of bank holidays and everybody’s too distracted to do any work even when they’re in the office. Plus it will shave another £40 off my exorbitant Christmas party bill...