The words "office Christmas party" can summon up some depressing scenarios. But for the 69 employees at Informatiq Consulting, turkey and tinsel were memorably replaced by a trip to Marrakesh, stopping off at the souks and local restaurants on the way to a safari through the Atlas Mountains. The recruitment agency for specialists such as IT professionals believes in keeping its staff happy. There is breakfast, snacks and then soup, bread and crumpets for lunch every day; thanks to employee suggestions, staff also get an extended lunch break once a week to help burn it all off at the gym. A library stocked with DVDs and videos, 4pm finishes on a Friday and duvet days also make daily working life more pleasant. There are dinners out at the Dover Street restaurant in London as well as activities such as skiing and dragon boat racing, which form part of a company wellness programme worth £250 per employee every year. Staff at the Watford office are brimming with contentment. They say their colleagues are fun to work with (an 88% positive score), there is a strong sense of family in teams (80%) and people go out of their way to help (84%). They also say that their direct managers talk with them openly and honestly (85%) and as a result of this closeness deadlines are realistic (86%). After just a year, employees are eligible for a 52-week unpaid sabbatical and success is rewarded with holiday — someone with two years of service who makes more than four times his or her basic salary in revenue has an extra day's holiday on top of the government minimum. In addition to free private healthcare there are flexible benefits with a choice of childcare vouchers, a car allowance and loans. With home and flexible working, staff say they don't feel under so much pressure that they cannot concentrate — the 84% positive score placing the company seventh among all top 100 SMEs on this measure.