Perkaholics

I'm known across the east London IT channel for running a tight ship. (Some wags even suggested "tight" was the operative word after I pulled the subsidised stationery allowance. I maintain it was a shrewd piece of operational rightsizing.)

I tend to view the idea of staff perks as a slightly commie exercise in wasting money. But the munificence of Lawrence Jones, boss of hosting outfit UKFast, has well and truly boggled my tiny mind.

The channel exec is evangelical about the benefits of benefits for staff, and has gone to such lengths as giving his salesforce a swish five-day trip to Vegas. He's also hired a full-time masseuse and beauty therapist to keep his charges relaxed and a little bit fabulous.

Generous Jonesy points to the fact that his fast-growing firm is expanding its top line at about the same 30 per cent rate as the world's biggest search engine. "If firms like Google can do things like that, why can't a small business in Manchester do the same?"

Maybe its because Google grew last year to almost $40bn and UKFast grew to... well, let's say a bit less than that.

Anyway, much as I admire Larry's largesse, I shudder to think how Gord and the rest of my sales goons would react if I hired a Dodgi masseuse. An employment tribunal wouldn't be a happy ending for any of us.