Yes, that’s right, a cup of coffee is an example of an appropriate gift for a business contact
The UK Bribery Act states that gifts should be ‘proportionate’, so if they have just bought a tropical island from you then a weekend away *may* be proportionate. Similarly if they have bought a £250 piece of software, then the coffee would be proportionate.
UK companies are required to have certain ‘Anti-Bribery’ measures in place, so unfortunately some of those measures include this mandatory training. Heck, I can’t stand the training and I’m the one delivering it!
You won’t get very far in Africa / ME if you’re not prepared to grease the wheels of commerce, esp if you’re white – you often have to pay just to get through customs as ‘your paperwork appears not to be in order’ so either pay $200 or we’ll hold you at gun point until you do.
Also, I’m fairly certain that there’s an exception in the UK Bribery Act for things like that, however that’s where by knowledge runs a bit dry…