Yet, while tens of thousands of us are looking forward to a work Christmas do, spare a thought for the 3.1 million sole-traders and people who own their own business who will be missing out on work festivities this year.

The research from Virgin’s not-for-profit shows that 50% of Brits agree that Christmas parties have a positive impact on employee wellbeing and cite, building team spirit (73%), spending time with colleagues (72%) and celebrating the year’s achievements (54%) as the top three reasons for having a work Christmas do – moments that many sole traders and small business owners will be missing out on.

Londoners are the biggest party fans with 69% convinced work Christmas parties are a good thing, compared with 51% in Scotland.

Younger employees in general are also much more enthusiastic about work Christmas parties, with 72% of 18 to 34-year-olds believing they have a positive impact on employee wellbeing versus only 38% of those aged 45+. In fact, 13 times as many 18 to 24-year-olds would feel like they’re missing out by not going to a work Christmas party compared with 55 to 64-year-olds (39% versus 3% respectively).

Last month, Virgin StartUp found that a quarter (25%) of small business founders aged 18 to 24 said their mental health has worsened in the past six months, suggesting that this age group of founders are struggling the most with the loneliness that can come with being your own boss.

One in seven (14%) business founders also said loneliness was their largest barrier when starting a business. To support sole-traders and small business owners this Christmas, Virgin StartUp hosted a founders Christmas party this week for its Community members at Virgin Hotels London.

Andy Fishburn, Managing Director at Virgin StartUp commented: “Sole traders and new business owners often unfairly miss out on work Christmas celebrations, despite contributing more than £278 billion to the UK economy. My feed is often full of selfies of founders at this time of year experiencing Christmas party FOMO so that’s why we decided to host our own for founders to help boost their wellbeing, celebrate their achievements with their peers and make new connections that might benefit their business in 2025.”

More than 100 founders attended the Virgin StartUp Founders Christmas Party from sectors including food & drink, beauty, tech and other services, giving them the opportunity to connect with their peers and celebrate their achievements from 2024.

Varun Bhanot, Co-Founder and CEO of Magic AI, comments: "As a founder, I sometimes find myself missing the festive spirit of the big corporate Christmas parties I used to attend. The journey with Magic AI has been rewarding, having recently raised $5 million, we’re expanding our team and looking at ways we can gather colleagues to celebrate the season.”

Tina Chen, Founder of HumaniTea, adds: “Back when I was working for a large corporate  firm, you were surrounded by fellow employees and enjoyed the perks of attending fancy company-wide holiday parties. As a solo founder at HumaniTea, I have been running my tea social enterprise alone for the past four years and this means that I have missed out on quite a few Christmas parties. I think many solo founders and small business owners share similar experiences in feeling left out in all the festive company cheer.”