Company events have a bigger job to do
None of this is happening in isolation. Deloitte's latest Gen Z and Millennial Survey found wellbeing continues to sit near the top of employees' priorities, while CIPD reports that mental health remains the leading cause of long-term sickness absence in UK organisations. Offsites can’t solve these problems, but they’re a useful reminder that how colleagues spend time together has become more important than gathering everyone in the same room.
Alcohol as an addition, not the answer
The other shift that's impossible to ignore is how our relationship with alcohol is changing. Not disappearing. Changing.
Research from IWSR found that the no- and low-alcohol category grew by 13% across the world's ten largest markets during 2024. The same research also found that around four in ten consumers had deliberately taken a break from drinking within the previous six months. It doesn't mean everyone suddenly wants kombucha, it just means that choice matters.
Your employees don't want to spend the evening explaining why they're not drinking. They don't want to feel like the odd one out because they've ordered a 0.0 beer. They certainly don't want the entire event built around who can empty the most bottles before bedtime.
A good company annual offsite, incentive trip or christmas party should work whether someone orders champagne, sparkling water, or both. If alcohol is the thing creating the atmosphere, you need to try again.
What wellness offisites can look like
Wellness-led events can still be loud, competitive, creative, ridiculous. And yes, they might and probably will still involve a party at some point. They're just better designed so everyone can join in.
Employers hear "wellness" and picture yoga before breakfast. In reality, it's much simpler than that. A wellness-led company event is designed around participation instead of consumption.
We’ve seen (and created it) first-hand.
One client wanted their annual offsite to feel like genuine time away from work. Before the gala dinner and final-night celebrations, the team spent several days white-water rafting, swimming in lakes, hiking, exploring the Acropolis, joining run clubs, trying breathwork and throwing themselves into company Olympics. A party still happened, it just wasn't the workhorse.
Just last year, we hosted a company Christmas party split into four rooms, each consisting of at least five activities, games or workshops per room, as well as DJs and F&B. Ranging from drag queens and a choir, to roaming caricaturists and astrologists.
Another client wanted a more immersive company party. One year, we transformed Bedford Square Gardens into a Louisiana swamp settlement, complete with a voodoo chapel, bait shop, moonshine bar and live actors. The following year, we built eight fully immersive film sets inside ‘Backlot Studios’, which the 150+ guests worked their way through, encountering costumed actors along the way.
Different briefs, different audiences, with the same thinking. Give the masses something to experience together, not somewhere to drink together. Very Bearded Kitten!
Better experiences build stronger businesses
This isn't about asking companies to become wellness brands. It’s about appreciating your employees have changed, and the annual offsite or trip can’t look how it did 15 years ago. I mean, with all our remote working, it’s probably one of the few times all your employees will be in one place!
Does that mean every company event should become alcohol-free? No. There will always be a place for great food, great music and a proper celebration. But it is one of the biggest shifts we’ve seen over the last few years. Companies aren’t asking us to create bigger parties anymore. They’re asking us to create better ones.
That's what wellness-led company events should be. Not worthy, nor preachy. Just thoughtfully designed experiences that put people first.
And if there's a glass of prosecco waiting at the end of it? Even better.
