Now don't get us wrong, the adoration we feel for our boss run strong and deep* but even we were shocked by how much Net-A-Porter staff love their outgoing CEO.

After Mark Sebba announced that he was retiring, following 11 years as chief executive officer at the fashion powerhouse, his workers decided to show him just how much they were going to miss him with a surprise party.

This was no ordinary knees-up in the local pub though. It was a global love-fest involving the company's international employees (with a little help from Skype), along with samba dancers, a choir, acrobats and colour co-ordinated employees brandishing billboards declaring 'Mark Sebba You're The Man'.

Sebba, 65, had arrived at the company's London office expecting a normal day at work before his retirement, instead he was greeted by an entire floor of applauding colleagues and a singer belting out Aloe Blacc's The Man.

Workers from across the luxury e-retailer's global teams had adapted to British Summer Time to take part in the send-off, with staff from Charlton, Manhattan, New Jersey, Shanghai and Hong Kong joining in the fun via video link.

Once a slightly bewildered - and clearly touched - Sebba finally reached his desk, he was handed a cup of coffee by the company's founder Natalie Massenet and told his colleagues: "Thank-you very much everybody. I am a bit overwhelmed but how about getting back to work?"

"I am stepping down at a time when the company is stronger than ever," he had earlier told WWD. "We have built a team of world-class writers, communicators, buyers, innovators, digital pioneers, distribution experts and more who form the foundations and DNA of this company."

Sebba will stay on as a non-executive director at Net-A-Porter, the parent company of Outnet and Mr Porter.

*Now, about that pay rise?