As with most companies, the annual Christmas dinner was an event which just about every member of staff attended, not least because the meal was free. One of these was a medeaval dinner held at Beaulieu Abbey.

The Christmas parties were usually a day of little work and much drinking. Subcontractors would have brought gifts of bottles of spirits during preceding days and these would be shared round. Lunch was taken by many in the Albion Hotel which was located adjacent to the staff car park. Afterwards, there would be music, food, drink and socialising in the various departments in the company building. One year, a director was found slumped in the toilets and, assuming he was drunk, he was left alone. It was only when someone took pity on him that it was found that he was actually ill and had not been drinking at all. Another year, Malcolm went back to the Albion Hotel with a couple of his colleagues and they stayed there until very late. Malcolm had to endure a 'cold shoulder' for a while but one of the others fell in through his front door and was left asleep on the floor for much of Christmas Day.

Malcolm was also occasionally asked to participate in entertaining clients and one of these was also a medeaval dinner at Beaulieu Abbey. Another was lunch at the Struan Hotel near Ringwood where Malcolm enjoyed a superb steak lunch. Malcolm and a small band of colleagues used to meet up at the Smugglers Haunt pub in Tricketts Cross in Ferndown every Thursday. This escalated for a while whereby some of the group would go on to a drinking club until the early hours. Malcolm did occasionally take his wife Brenda to both locations but usually it was just the lads winding down after work. It is a fact that these activities led to instances of drink driving and, although Malcolm was stopped by the police on two occasions without further action, the only accident he had was to graze the gatepost when trying deliberately to avoid it. In latter years, Malcolm would go down to the Albion Hotel in an evening as it was a very short walk from home and, besides his pint, would enjoy a game of cribbage if anyone was like minded.

At the end of one particularly stressful week, Malcolm and the other two managers agreed to go to the Monmouth Ash pub to wind down. Malcolm dropped into the house on the way to let Brenda know what was happening. Much later, the other two decided to stay for a meal, so Malcolm left them, one of them trying to remember his own home phone number to ring his wife. Malcolm got back home to find his dinner in the bin.

Social events were often arranged by the staff. An evening playing skittles at Wellworthys social club in Ringwood was such an event and a similar event at the Star Inn in Ringwood. At the latter, Malcolm became aware that all the other men had disappeared only to find out later that they had been watching a blue movie. Malcolm was rather inclined to dress flamboyantly in those days and for this event he was wearing a pink denim flared suit and a black sweatshirt with an emblem of the pink panther on it. One of the directors had said that he wished he had the nerve to wear such clothes.

A fishing trip was arranged to take place in early spring one year. It was in small boats in Poole Harbour. The intention was to go out to sea but on reaching Sandbanks, the sea was like the Alps so they remained within the harbour. Nonetheless, many were seasick and there was hardly a fish caught amongst the entire group.

When the company reached it's Diamond Jubilee, a special dinner was put on at Rhinefield House and the directors were to come down from London for the occasion. They were late in arriving due, it was found out later, to stopping in a pub and forgetting the time. In the mean time, all the staff were drinking anmd when the directors finally arrived, not only were the staff pickled but the food was cold as well. To make matters worse, the managing director made a speech in which he told a couple of jokes, on both of which he messed up the punchline.