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•Three Greatest Natural Discoveries that Drive Businesses 145

around £30 billion according to a spokesperson for the Wines and Spirits Associa-
tion of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. These are very approximate figures.

Here comes the twist on the other hand

• There are changes occurring in the Inland Revenue’s attitude to staff enter-
tainment including the Christmas party. Few employees are going to see the
joke if their attendance at the annual do is followed by an increase in their
tax bill. Make sure you know what the rules are.

• There are various pieces of litigation both completed and pending, particu-
larly in the USA, which deal with claims from employees and customers
following accidents and other damage arising from drink obtained during
company entertainment. Has someone in your company looked into this
and checked your risks and liabilities.

If, however, you can still take a joke, you may be interested in a club formed by three
Brits in a bar in Chicago called BOWFACE. This stands for ‘Bars Of the World
Found At Company Expense’. Members must have had a drink in at least three bars
in at least seven countries in the preceding 12 months. Get in touch with the author
if you think you qualify.

We have come a long way since the first primitive discovered the properties of
mouldy vegetables, and millions of people have made a lot of money in the process.
Funnily enough higher margins are made when governments are trying to regulate
the product out of existence than in normal trading circumstances. See Prohibition
Idea 21.