Get the count right with a sensible buffer, place each favour consistently, and order well ahead of the day. The etiquette looks after itself once the logistics do.

Gifts for men run into the same tired shortlist every year, and flowers rarely make it onto it. Chocolate does a better job than its reputation suggests, provided you pick the format with the recipient in mind. For most men and most occasions, a large mixed collection is the sensible answer.

A retirement gift has to carry more than most. It marks the end of a career rather than a single occasion, it usually comes from a group rather than one person, and it tends to be opened in front of the very colleagues chipping in for it. A full chocolate hamper handles all of that with a generosity the moment deserves.

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Match the collection to the milestone, personalise it with the year or the names, and order in good time. Scaled properly, a box of chocolates marks an anniversary at exactly the right pitch, whether it is a quiet first year or fifty years worth celebrating in a full room.

A share bag suits the thank you aimed at a group. A team that pulled together on a deadline, a committee that ran an event, a class of colleagues who chipped in: one bag passed around thanks everyone at once and avoids the awkwardness of singling people out. It is generous in spirit and sensible in cost.