John Timpson: Forget talk of an Olympics disruption bonus and focus on having fun If you can't get hold of any tickets at least you can install enough televisions to make sure everyone is able to follow the full programme every day including fencing, the coxless fours and free style wrestling. To add extra interest, run an office sweepstake with a worthwhile prize to the person who picks the correct number of medals won by 'Team GB'. If transport really does become a problem try flexitime. Open the office at 6am well before the athletes have woken up and let your colleagues come and go as they please. You could decide to be generous by subsidising the cost of using Boris's bikes - by the end of the games your team of financiers could be fitter than some of the athletes. Whatever you do don't moan. Having the world's biggest sporting event within walking distance of the office is an amazing privilege. Do your best to make sure your people enjoy the games. Q I haven't taken a break for 18 months now because of the tough trading conditions my company finds itself in. I could do with getting away to clear my head but I can see the next three to six months will be crucial again for us. Have you found yourself in a similar situation and what have you done? A Life is too short to spend all your time at the office. Your obsession with work means you are missing out on your hobbies, losing touch with friends and most of all failing to stay close to your family. If you have children spend as much time with them as you can -- they grow up very quickly. My wife, Alex, would never have let me miss a holiday. Even at my most critical time, in the middle of our management buy-out, I still managed a three week family break. Although I have no intention of retiring I plan to add an extra week of holiday every year - the scheme is working well this year I am already booked to be away nine weeks. Your reluctance to take time off suggests a lack of trust in your colleagues and a serious shortage of delegation. If you haven't got a good number two you can trust, get one. I am pretty sure there will be someone on your team who is quite capable of handling things in your absence, they can always contact you if there is a crisis. A couple of weeks away will almost certainly do you, and your business, a lot of good. Don't delay, book a holiday immediately. Once you are sitting on the beach thinking about things from a distance your business might not seem so bad. But, if on reflection you still find future prospects pretty impossible perhaps it is time sell up. Q What is the best way to communicate annual pay rises in the current climate? A There can seldom have been an easier time to announce the latest pay deal. Everyone knows that times are tough so, despite the pressures on your employees' domestic budget, a pay rise of 1pc or nothing at all won't come as a big surprise. Accompany the communication with some background to your current trading, but don't try to be clever, tell them the truth. The general percentage increase may be modest but don't kid yourself. Your employment costs will still rise due to the inevitable 'wage creep' caused by young people moving up the wage scale, people being promoted, and increases rightly given to star performers. The only way to cut the cost of your wages is to reduce the number of people on the payroll. That way you are able to give your loyal and successful colleagues the extra pay they deserve while keeping total payroll costs under control. I won't be worrying about any wording because we don't have a pay round. At Timpson we review everyone's pay on the anniversary of the date they joined the company. That allows us to treat everyone according to their individual merit, paying the best people more than their poorer performing peers. We don't practice equal pay, we prefer to discriminate in favour of the superstars.