Thank you is the most common thing a gift has to say and the easiest to get slightly wrong. Too small and it reads as an afterthought. Too large and it puts the recipient under a strange obligation. A mid-size chocolate hampers collection or a share bag sits in the right register for almost every version of the occasion.

If you want to lift it further, a personalised message or his name on the box turns a generic present into one addressed to him. Keep the message short and let the collection do the talking. Allow a little extra time for personalised print, and more in the run-up to Christmas when orders stack up.

For the major milestones, a fortieth, fiftieth or beyond, the gift is often shared with family, so scale and presentation both matter. A generous collection works as a centrepiece as much as a present, something the wider gathering opens together. A personalised lid marking the number of years gives everyone the reason for the day in a glance.

It helps to choose a maker whose product you trust. Lily O’Brien’s has handcrafted chocolates in Newbridge, Co. Kildare since 1992, so the favours arrive as something guests recognise and are happy to keep. That recognition does quiet work at the table.

Provenance gives a retirement gift the weight it should have. Lily O’Brien’s has handcrafted its chocolates in Newbridge, Co. Kildare since 1992, and holds BRC Grade A+ accreditation for its production, so the hamper arrives as something made with genuine care rather than assembled for the sake of it. For a gift meant to say a career mattered, that kind of detail does real work.

A housewarming gift has a narrow brief. It should suit a home the owners are still arranging, it should not add to the pile of things they have to find space for, and it should feel chosen rather than grabbed on the way over. Chocolate meets all three, which is why a hamper or a share bag tends to work better than another candle or a plant that needs looking after.