Back to work blues...

Hello. You back yet? Gagging to get back to work, I bet. Did you have a good Christmas? New Year? Hope so.

Did any of you bump into one of those very annoying City types who spent most of the Christmas break wondering what they might spend their obscene bonus on? Will it be property, a yacht, or an Aston Martin? Maybe all three. Sure, being in a creative industry and not having to get trussed up in a pinstripe has its upsides, but you can't deny that a few more readies wouldn't go amiss.

Still, I'm sure a few of you got a little something extra in your end of year pay packet. Well you might have unless, as we've heard, you work at either Firefly or Lewis. Apparently, neither of those agencies was in a position to give anyone their customary Christmas bonus this year.

Now Firefly we can understand. After all, losing the huge Motorola account to Edelman this year would knock the wind out of any agency's financial sails...it's more interested in survival than shelling out extras. We hear that the current staff levels are well below the 70 boasted on its website. Still, Firefly has come back once from the departure of a big spending client and we're sure it'll do it again.

Lewis not paying any bonuses is a bit more puzzling though. Perhaps there's a clue in the agency's refusal last year to submit numbers for the PR Week league tables? They might have shown a dip in revenues (though we're sure Lewis would deny this) but it's maybe more likely to be related to the excuse given for not coming up with the numbers: that Lewis was concentrating on its international expansion. Expensive old business, that, especially if the new international offices aren't pulling in the buisness they need to.

Anyway, happy New Year.