The book contains a series of engaging anecdotes from Scotwork’s negotiation experts, demonstrating their expansive experience across various sectors.

The stories are organised according to Scotwork’s well-known Eight Step Framework, with each story offering a unique perspective into a different aspect of negotiation. Ranging from serious to humorous accounts, the collection offers practical advice for honing negotiation skills in business and everyday life.

The book has been edited by Scotwork UK’s CEO, Horace McDonald. He said: “Negotiation is everywhere. It is played out amongst parents and children, friends with friends, between colleagues in the workplace and externally with clients and suppliers.

“When countries are at loggerheads, economic systems are in peril and at times of political instability you’ll rarely listen to a news bulletin without hearing the word ‘negotiation’. Irrespective of the job you do, or where you are in the world, you will encounter it daily.

“Despite this, negotiation is still a subject that is largely under-taught in business schools and under-funded in the workplace. We strive to ensure that we grow our business through delighting our existing clients across the world and engaging new customers, helping them all to transform businesses through effective negotiation to drive better deals.

“Our objective with this book is to bring some of our core principles to life through storytelling.”

Ben Ficke, global procurement director at Whitbread, added: “As a fan of negotiation theory and a lover of great story-telling, Once Upon A Deal makes the theory really come alive through entertaining and compelling anecdotes.

“From negotiating with the EU to negotiating with your mother, and from negotiating the price of a hotel room to negotiating with your dog to keep him from chasing grouse, this book shows how having a solid negotiation plan will always get you better results.

“It takes academically-proven theory, on which Scotwork’s world-class training is based, and illuminates the theory through a wonderful collection of stories.”