# Long Service

> A recognition evening, not a gala. Three and a half hours, the awards done properly, and everyone home by ten.

Package I-05 from Offsyte, corporate recreation in the UAE · [Ceremony](https://offsyte.ae/catalog/corporate-parties-and-celebrations/) · Web page: https://offsyte.ae/packages/long-service/

- **Duration:** 3.5 hrs
- **Ideal start time:** 18:30 — straight from the office, no going home to change
- **Departure window:** 18:00–19:30
- **Group size:** 40 min — 200 max
- **Emirate / venue:** Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi — hotel function room or the client's own atrium
- **Season:** Year-round
- **Booking lead time:** 21 days

## Price per person, excluding 5% VAT

| Group size | Per person | Billed for at least |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 40–79 people | AED 390 | 56 people |
| 80–149 people | AED 340 | — |
| 150+ people | AED 300 | — |

A group smaller than a band's "billed for at least" figure is still served, and is invoiced for that many people.
Where a larger band costs less in total, it is quoted instead: groups of 70–79 are billed as 80 people at the rate for 80–149 people; groups of 133–149 are billed as 150 people at the rate for 150+ people.

Payment: 50% advance on signature. 100% cleared 3 working days before the event. Numbers lock 7 days prior.

## Why this is not the retail version

The comparison is our own **I-01 Year in Review at AED 700** — the full gala, five hours, ballroom, band, the whole production. That is the right package for a company marking a year. **This is for a company marking people**, and the two are not the same event.

**What is deliberately removed:** the ballroom, the band, the five-hour running order, the dress code and the going-home-to-change. What that removes with it is the reason half the workforce quietly does not attend a gala.

**What is deliberately kept, and where the money goes:** every recipient walks, every recipient is photographed individually, and **every citation is read out loud.** That last one is the whole package. The standard corporate failure here is a list of names read at speed while people eat — and the person who gave a company fifteen years hears their name in a list. Twenty-five citations at forty seconds each is seventeen minutes, and it is the seventeen minutes the evening exists for.

**The named photograph set is the second thing.** Every recipient gets a proper photograph of themselves receiving their award, delivered as a file with their name on it. People keep those. They do not keep a group shot from a gala.

**Sell this to a company with more than thirty long-service recipients and no appetite for a gala**, and sell it alongside I-01 rather than against it — a client can genuinely want both, in different quarters.

## Timeline

- **14:00** — Build begins — staging, AV, awards display, branding
- **18:30** — Doors. Arrival drinks, the awards laid out where people can see their name
- **18:50** — Guests seated
- **19:00** — MC opens. Senior leader speaks — eight minutes, and it is written in advance
- **19:15** — The awards. Every recipient walks, every recipient is photographed, and every citation is read aloud
- **20:00** — Dinner buffet opens
- **21:00** — The long-service segment — the 10, 15 and 20-year recipients, last, with a short film
- **21:30** — Close. The photo wall stays open
- **22:00** — Guests away

## Included

- Venue — hotel function room, half evening (or the client's own space at a AED 3,000 reduction)
- Staging, AV, screen, lectern and lighting
- Awards, trophies and engraving for every recipient
- MC for the evening, briefed on every name and its pronunciation
- Dinner buffet with full dietary coverage
- Arrival drinks and soft beverages throughout
- Full custom branding — stage, photo wall, awards display
- Photographer, videographer and an edited 90-second reel within 5 working days
- Individual photograph of every recipient, delivered as a named file set
- Two event coordinators on site

## Not included

- Alcohol (priced separately, licensed venues only)
- Live entertainment or DJ (see add-ons)
- Gifting beyond the awards themselves
- 5% VAT

## Weather and backup plan

- **Trigger:** None — fully indoor.
- **Fallback:** Venue failure moves to a contracted alternate function room, or to the client's own premises, at 72 hours' notice. The awards are the constraint — engraving runs 10 working days and cannot be compressed, which is why the lead time is 21 days and why the recipient list freezes at 14.
- **You are told by:** Immediate for any venue change.

## Customisation options

- Long-service film — interviews with recipients, 4 min: AED 6,500/event
- DJ and dancing after the awards: AED 900
- Live band: AED 7,500/event
- Upgrade to a plated dinner: AED 100/person
- Premium awards — crystal, engraved brass: AED 140/recipient
- Partner invitations: Priced per person
- Printed programme with all citations: AED 25/person
- Photo-booth with branded prints: AED 3,200/event

## Questions about Long Service

### How much does Long Service cost per person?

AED 390 per person for 40–79 people; AED 340 per person for 80–149 people; AED 300 per person for 150+ people. All figures exclude 5% VAT. A group below a band's minimum chargeable size is billed at that minimum: 56 people in the 40–79 band. Where a larger band costs less in total, it is quoted instead: groups of 70–79 are billed as 80 people at the rate for 80–149 people; groups of 133–149 are billed as 150 people at the rate for 150+ people.

### How long does Long Service take, and when does it start?

3.5 hrs. Ideal start: 18:30 — straight from the office, no going home to change. Departure window: 18:00–19:30.

### What is not included in Long Service?

Alcohol (priced separately, licensed venues only); Live entertainment or DJ (see add-ons); Gifting beyond the awards themselves; 5% VAT. These are stated before enquiry rather than raised at invoice time.

### What happens to Long Service if the weather turns?

Trigger: None — fully indoor. Fallback: Venue failure moves to a contracted alternate function room, or to the client's own premises, at 72 hours' notice. The awards are the constraint — engraving runs 10 working days and cannot be compressed, which is why the lead time is 21 days and why the recipient list freezes at 14. You are told: Immediate for any venue change.

### How far in advance do we need to book Long Service?

The booking lead time is 21 days. Ramadan and December dates book out first.

## Read before you book

- [Teacher wellbeing and staff appreciation in UAE schools](https://offsyte.ae/blog/staff-wellbeing-appreciation-uae-schools/): Staff wellbeing and appreciation ideas that fit a UAE school's calendar — when to run them, what works for teaching and support staff, and what each costs.
- [Employee engagement activities, month by month](https://offsyte.ae/blog/employee-engagement-activities-uae/): Engagement is a calendar, not an event. Twelve months of activities for a UAE company, what each one costs per person, and the months you cannot use at all.
- [Staff appreciation that people believe](https://offsyte.ae/blog/staff-appreciation-long-service-uae/): How to run recognition and long-service awards in a UAE company so they land rather than embarrass — formats, prices, and the mistakes that make people cynical.

Request a proposal: https://offsyte.ae/enquire/?package=I-05 · proposals@offsyte.ae