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Four Costain staff are mulling over the issue of workplace bullying as they sup an after-work pint. Earlier in the week Helen Green had won 拢800,000 in damages after being bullied for six years while working at Deutsche Bank Group Services.

鈥淭his case is good for kids to see that being bullied is not funny and it shouldn鈥檛 be tolerated,鈥� says Stephen, who presents an engaging mix of enthusiasm and optimism.

鈥淏ullying is a hot topic at the moment,鈥� Clare chips in, ever the human resources manager. 鈥淲e would do anything to prevent it and support anything against it. We鈥檙e developing management training on the subject, but it comes down to trust as well, regardless of systems.鈥�

Mark agrees that it鈥檚 about creating the right culture, but that has to come from the top.

Stephen and Graham make the point that at work it鈥檚 not commercially viable to turn a blind eye to bullying. 鈥淚鈥檝e suffered it twice in my career,鈥� says Graham, 鈥渁nd from a commercial point of view if you have bullying, people leave.鈥�

Stephen recalls a case last year when a City executive asked his PA to foot a dry cleaning bill when she accidentally spilled ketchup on his suit. An email she sent around the office about the incident got fowarded externally and became public knowledge.

Stephen laughs: 鈥淭hat sums it up. Let鈥檚 get it into perspective. If he鈥檚 on 拢1m, what鈥檚 a fiver? In a way that chap鈥檚 behaviour was bullying.鈥�

鈥淚t can spread like cancer in a company,鈥� says Graham. 鈥淚f somebody senior does it, it can become the norm; it sets an example.鈥�

The conversation moves on to bullying at school, and whether attitudes have changed since they were all at school. According to Simon they have: 鈥淢y kids go to secondary school and the teachers are very tough on it; they have bullying policies,鈥� he says.

鈥淚t is a worry,鈥� says Graham, also a father. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a two-way process; you worry about whether your kids are being bullied, but you also worry about whether they are bullies. At my school it was the teachers that were the bullies. The playground was great.鈥�

Graham agrees with Stephen that it has changed over the years, and that society in general is less macho than it was 20 or 30 years ago. He turns to football to flesh out his philosophy: 鈥淚 have a theory. Football is a great microcosm of life. Football mirrors society. It鈥檚 a family event now but 20 or 30 years ago it was completely different.鈥�

Graham thinks it鈥檚 the right moment to mention the fact that his wife is Portuguese. The connection is the inevitable pub topic of England鈥檚 downfall at the hands of Portugal in the World Cup finals.

We discuss the taunting of the unfortunate Wayne Rooney. Is it right to say that he was bullied by Cristiano Ronaldo?

Graham is clear: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not bullying, it鈥檚 gamesmanship. Bullying is an insidious and disgusting thing, but to my mind Rooney wasn鈥檛 bullied at the World Cup.鈥�

Luckily, nobody brings up the names of Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi 鈥�