At Office 365 we’ve recently undergone a revamp of the site. This means that not only do we have a new face and an easier to navigate website, but we have a whole range of enticing offers for you too. One thing that’s sure to follow after a website overhaul is a drop off the ratings a little until you find your feet; feeling the pinch, we’ve tried to come up with a whole range of different treats for you so that you can help us back on our feet again.

Our team is made up of our two directors, a few members who have been with us pretty much from the very beginning, and then a couple of dedicated newbie’s who have put their passion into rebuilding the site. All of us here at Office 365 love what we do and have a deep set loyalty to the company. From the beginning all of our thoughts and ideas have been listened to and put into practice, the result of which is a real family feel firm and employees who are truly happy in what they do. Of course a happy team can only have a positive impact on our customers who always receive the best customer service from us without fail. We truly value every single one of our customers and strive to make their experience with us as easy, simple, friendly and enjoyable as possible.

If you’ve been, or currently are a customer of ours, from the old site to this new one, we would love to hear from you; your thoughts on your experiences with us and whether you feel our new site is a step in the right direction or not. We’re 100% dedicated to making this perfect and of course need your help to do this! Don’t hold back, we value your thoughts!

Come along and try out our new, easier to navigate home page and product category pages where you’ll find easy and simple refine options to narrow down your searches. Enjoy 10% off first time orders and right now you can enjoy a free gift on all orders over £60! Offer valid until the 4^th September.

With our price match guarantee you can feel confident that our prices are the cheapest UK prices on the net, if you find them cheaper anywhere else, we’ll match them. But to add the icing to the cake, we even offer discounts on bulk orders. You simply select ‘get a quote’ at your basket screen, or call us on 0870 766 1624 to speak to a member of the team! Here by popular demand, we now accept PAY PAL for secure payments and faster transactions and to finalise, we offer next working day delivery on all orders placed before 4:30 pm! Please check stock for urgent requirements however; we do hate to disappoint!

Going with the back to school theme, we have a great selection of special offers right now. We’ve handpicked what we thought would be some of the most popularly required items at this time of year, such as highlighters, glue sticks, paper, envelopes, desk fans, desk tidies, calculators, pens, binders and so much more. For a full selection, view our special offers on our home page.

We’re pulling out all the stops; is it enough? Let us know your thoughts at info@office365.co.uk or on 0870 766 1624. Thank you, we really look forward to hearing from you!

Not long now until the new school term starts and it’s not just the kids who need to get organised! As a teacher, professor or lecturer, you’ll need to make sure you have all the right supplies to perform your job well. This will mean checking current stock levels and checking the condition of the supplies you currently have. Do you have enough flip chart pads? Are you in need of whiteboard cleaner to refresh your boards for the new term? Have your whiteboard markers run dry? Maybe you need to replenish your OHP film stock or could you be ‘old school’ and require chalk? Whatever it is you need to get September off to a flying to start, you’ll find it here at Office 365!

Take our Whiteboard Markers for example; we have a whole range of different brands available such as Bic, Paper Mate, Sharpie and Staedtler, however the widest choice comes from our Bic brand with an assortment of colours such as black, green, blue, red and assorted packs. You will also find bullet and chisel tips, as well as retractable and low odour options. All of our whiteboard supplies are available at the cheapest UK prices on the net, we’re so confident of this in fact that we back this up with our price match guarantee!

Not only do we boast the widest choice and the smallest prices, but we can assure you that all orders placed before 4:30pm will be despatched for next day UK delivery! Please note that for urgent orders we recommend you phone to check stock! Now accepting Pay Pal for your added security, Office 365 are offering all our new customers and added 10% off their first orders with us, plus any orders placed between the 27^th August 2012 and the 4^th September 2012, that exceed £60 are illegible for a free gift! Please see our home page for more information!

Remember, Office 365 are also the favourite for stocking up on all your children’s stationery supplies too. So when the time comes and your child is moving up into top school, make sure they have all the essential stationery to get them off to a good start. Check list includes:

• Calculator
• Colouring supplies
• Pen (and spares!)
• Eraser & correction fluid
• Pencils
• Sharpener
• Ruler
• Geometry set
• Compass
• Binder (and pockets)
• Lined & plain paper
• Highlighters
• Stapler (not essential)

Here at Office 365 we have a fantastic selection of calculators for schools which have been developed especially for the educational purposes of the growing minds of children. Plus, if you order now, yours will arrive just in time for your child’s first day back at school. With less than two weeks left, it’s certainly time to get prepared, and if your child is about to start senior school, they’ll need there’s in order to advance in terms of the new key stage mathematical level.

Our selection of Aurora calculators have been very well received and are proven useful, effective and extremely cost effective teaching aids. In fact, the revised ‘Primary Framework for Literacy and Mathematics’ recommends that the teaching of calculator skills should begin at around years 3 and 4 and continue through to the assessment at the end of Key Stage 2!

Our Aurora Scientific Calculator featured has a great many different features and is Ideal for key Stage 3, 4 and above (Ages 11 +). These calculators are permitted for use in GCSE Mathematic exams and include the following functions: 2-line LCD display shows Sum & Answer, Algebraic logic for calculations to be entered as they would be written, 240 functions including 164 scientific functions, Regression analysis, Fractions & Reciprocals, Replay & edit facility, Slide-on durable hard case, Angle Calculations, Auto power off, Backspace correction, Combinations, Coordinate conversion, Degrees, minutes, seconds, Degrees, Radians, Gradients, Durable hard keys, Expression editing, Exponents, Factorials, Fractions, Engineering calculations FIX/SCI/ENG, Hyperbolics, Locking battery cover, Logarithms, 9 memories, Parentheses, Percentage, Permutations, Random numbers, Reciprocal, Roots & powers, Sign change, Square root, Standard deviation, Trigonometric functions, (SIN/COS/TAN), Weight: 97g, Battery powered, LR44 x 2 and Dimensions: 78x148x14mm (including case). Our Price – Just £6.38 inc VAT! (Plus 10% off firs orders!)

As Aurora are the UK’s predominantly recognised leading brand of calculators achieving up to 14% of basic four function calculator market, we feel confident in recommending them to you! In fact Aurora Electronics UK Ltd are recognised as THE specialist UK calculator company!

Offering you that little bit more, Office 365 are also giving you a free gift this bank holiday! All orders from the 27/08/2012 to the 04/09/2012 get a FREE gift with all orders over £60! Please note that our call centre will be closed Monday 27th August, for the bank holiday, but you can still place online orders.

It’s that time again! We’re now well into the school summer holidays and with just 2 weeks left to go, it’s high time we get organised! The kids will be needing all sorts before they return to their schools and those of them starting school or moving up into their next school will need a whole range of different equipment to get them off to the right start. With my own daughter moving up to secondary school, I feel well equipped to advise which stationery items will be needed for those in the same position. Please see the list below for a checklist of what to get over the next two weeks!

• Pens – As my daughter’s new headmaster advised during her open day at her new school, pack two! One pen just isn’t enough; loose it and your new teacher will be highly annoyed! Always pack a spare pen! Worry not, we have plenty of cheap pens here at Office 365, including highlighters which are a must have for those moving up to top school!
• Pencils – For artwork and drafts, a pencil is essential for students of all ages. Choose from a selection of wood case and mechanical pencils here in a range of shades.
• Colouring Supplies – Unsure of what was best to buy, I purchased both colouring pencils and felt pens for my daughter; or rather she did with her birthday pennies! This way they are equipped for every scenario. Choose from a full spectrum colouring supplies here!
• Correctors & Erasers – Always make sure your child is equipped with an eraser! Given their tiny price, it is also advisable to provide a spare. For those moving up into secondary school, it is also advisable to provide correction fluid as children work more with ink and must produce neat written essays.
• Pencil Sharpener – If you’re going to provide pencils and colouring pencils, of course they will need some means in which to sharpen them! Choose from a range of manual, mains or battery powered items here.
• Ring Binder/Lever Arch File – Aimed more at children in secondary school, the binder means that any coursework and essays written by students can be kept safe, neat and organised inside a binder. Choose from a rather extensive range here!
• Plastic Pockets – If you’re going to purchase the binder, you’ll also benefit from choosing plastic pockets. Perfect for separating work as well as protecting it, plastic pockets also mean that there is no need to punch holes into your papers! With A3, A4 and A5 varieties here, you’re sure to find exactly what you need!
• Ruler – A rather obvious one, but often forgotten, the ruler is essential for children in education so that they are able to produce neat, perfectly straight lines and so that they are able to complete measurements in both mathematics and other areas such as design, art and graphics.
• Geometry Sets – Used in Mathematics, trigonometry, design and sometimes geography, a geometry set is essential for children moving up into senior school. We have a selection of individual items such as protractors, rulers, set squares, compasses and more, or alternatively, you can purchase the entire school set!
• Calculator – Of course, the oh-so-essential calculator. Now a required tool during GCSE examination, the calculator is used in all mathematics classes and is also useful in various other lessons too. Choose from our selection of handheld, desktop and scientific models here.

For a complete selection of stationery supplies, simply visit out site, however if you need any help or advise, please feel free to get in touch with a member of our team on 0870 766 1624.

With so many sticky tape brands on the market these days it can be extremely difficult to choose one that suits you. But brands aside, you’ll even find tapes have an abundance of special features too, like for example, invisible tape which is (as the name suggests) invisible once applied, magic tape which doesn’t ghost when photocopied, is invisible once applied and can even be written on! You’ll find low noise tape which peels virtually silently, permanent tape which can never be un-stuck, long life tape which last for years without yellowing, hand tear tape which means no teeth, no dispenser and no scissors! With other tapes such as weather resistant tape for fastening signs and posters, non-static tape for fuss free, tangle free taping, extra sticky tape for longer lasting adherent and removable tape for repositioning, how on earth are you meant to choose!

We find it best to advise our customers to decide on what the tapes application will be before purchasing the tape. There are two areas which customers commonly request specialist tapes and these are listed below together with our suggestions.

Gift wrapping – There are a few options here which would suit a person looking to wrap gifts and parcel effectively. Are you looking for a tape that tears easily without the need for scissors? Or maybe you’d like something which is invisible once applied? Alternatively you could be after a solution which will not tangle in which case an anti-static tape would be best. May we suggest the Sellotape Super Clear Tape featured? The premium quality super clear tape is pressure rolled and boasts a non yellowing nature meaning it will last for years! The easy to tear roll means that there is no need for scissors or teeth, plus it’s anti-tangle properties makes it perfect for gift wrapping! The 18mm x 25m rolls come in a pack of 8 and are available for just £15.01 inc VAT!

Office Use – In the office you expect a tape which will not create a great deal of noise! You’d hope to be able to adhere papers and then perform photocopying duties without running the risk of ghosting when photocopying. You might wish to be able to write over areas which have been taped. Thanks to the busy nature of a working office, another fantastic quality would be easy tearing. When you’re in a hurry you don’t want to be slowed down by hunting for scissors and you certainly don’t want to gnaw away at the roll with your teeth, so easy tear rolls or dispensers are a must! Try our Scotch Magic Tape on Dispenser featured. This low noise tape dispenses smoothly and quickly and is invisible once applied. With the ability to be written on, this tape does not ghost when photocopied! Available in 19mm x 25m single roll with dispenser, this is a real bargain at just £3.91 inc VAT!

Of course we have plenty of other sticky tapes available at Office 365 and we cannot recommend highly enough that you browse our entire collection before you buy. However if you’d like help, advise or guidance in any way, please get in touch with a member of our team on 0870 766 1624 and we’ll be happy to help. (Click here to convert between imperial measurements and metres)

After working in many offices over the last 10-12 years there are certainly a number of tools which I know we couldn’t have done without! There are various replaceable items in the office today and as paper is being phased out and we turn to the technological world, there are many paper and stationery items which have become redundant over the last decade or two. However there is one irreplaceable tool which deserves recognition for the impact it makes in an office. It allows organisation at a high level and for messages to be relayed within the offices without risk.

Duplicate telephone message books are a fantastic concept which make for the perfect alternative to repositionable notes and note paper. Yes, they are the same concept, a piece of paper on which a message can be written, however thanks to their headings and pre printed text, they save time and enable you to get to the point of the message. Ideal for the office and the home, our telephone message pads will not fail to get your message across. Giving a professional, organised approach and impression, thanks to the duplicate nature of these pads, there can be no allegation of failing to pass on the message! The duplicate paper means that you can see and prove that you have passed on the message and where the copy has been lost, you can refer to the original!

Our telephone message pads are available from 5 Star, Challenge and Post-It, each one featuring the duplicate facility using carbonless paper for less mess when creating copies! Available in packs of 1, 10 and 12, you’ll find a number of added features such as vibrant colours to stand out, perforated, easy tear pages, sticky repositionable adhesive so that messages can be stuck to places where the recipient is likely to see them and more.

Our favourite is the 5 Star Telephone Message Book featured.

• No carbon required (NCR) paper provides a duplicate message and therefore a permanent record of message, date etc
• Wirebound
• Sticky edge so message can be repositioned
• Size: 279 x 152mm
• 320 messages (4 per page)
• 80 Pages
• Just £8.33 INC VAT!

Bearing in mind this pad should be priced at £23.59, you can see that you’re getting a real bargain! What’s more not only does it feature carbonless, mess free paper, but it also has sticky edged pages so that notes are repositionable and can be adhered to stand out areas such as monitors, keyboards and telephones. With every feature you could possibly need from a telephone message pad, this one has to be the best option, plus at this price, it ticks every box!

There’s no fighting it I’m afraid, a house just cannot fully function without a pencil sharpener, particularly one which has kids! Widen the environment to a school or office setting and the need is heightened further; I’m afraid a little pocket knife just will not suffice in any of these settings. In the home, the minute you lose your pencil sharpeners all hell breaks loose! As if by magic, all your child’s pencils and colouring pencils need a sharpen, they have a fancy dress party and the face paints are blunt, or your getting ready for a night out and your eye liners lost its point. What a pain, and one that is frustratingly cheap to resolve too!

In a school environment it is virtually impossible to keep a classroom running smoothly without a number of pencil sharpeners. Most classrooms have a number of tables where children are sat in groups; each of these tables has a pencil pot so that children can use them throughout the day, alternatively there is an art corner which has an abundance of colouring pencils. It is essential to keep these pencils sharpened so that they are ready for use at all times. Most teachers at the end of the school day, find themselves freshening up the pencils ready for the next day. Losing your pencil sharpener here is simply not an option; it is recommended that your classroom store has a few for backups!

Pencils are also commonly used in the office. It is highly recommended that appointments are pencilled into diaries when they are not confirmed and written with ink when they are. This is a popular organisational method and requires that pencils are kept sharpened.

At Office 365 we recognise that in each of these environments a cheap sharpener will always be favourite and so have chosen just the one for a tight budget. Our 5 Star Metal Pencil Sharpener featured ticks all the essential boxes!

• Pocket-sized
• Metal
• Wedge sharpener
• For pencils up to 8mm in diameter
• Just £1.60 INC VAT!

Alternatively however, if you’re working in an environment which requires the daily sharpening of numerous pencils, you may prefer a sharpener that takes some of the heavy work away from you. Our Swordfish Dual Power Pencil Sharpener is just the thing!

• Dual power – battery and mains operated
• Comes complete with adaptor and plug for mains usage
• Uses 4 AA batteries (not included)
• Safety cover over pencil apertures
• Safety switch cuts power when showing tray is removed
• Strong, long-lasting helical blade
• For 8-11mm diameter pencils
• Automatic stop when pencil tip is sharp!
• Just £54.20 INC VAT

Please note however that we do have cheaper electric sharpeners available, the above was chosen thanks to its impressive features. Here at Office 365 we have sharpeners where you turn the pencil; sharpeners which involve you operating a hand crank and a great selection of automatic electric and battery powered pencil sharpeners. Some are battery powered and others require mains power; whichever you prefer, you’ll find a way to sharpen your pencil here!

Deep in the depths of the dark store-room a box began to stir. What a strange occurrence for such a place which has been still and silent on every other day passed. Piled high, from floor to ceiling, boxes are stacked filled with business and office stationery and supplies, eager and waiting to be found new homes, patiently holding on, hoping their good behaviour will be rewarded. But each evening only a select few are chosen from this place they call ‘Store Room’. The door bursts open and light floods into the room, in through the cracks of the boxes filling the little stationery orphans with hope and anticipation. And each day, at 4pm this being they call ‘Keighley’ will choose but a few; they say these few are chosen based on good behaviour and darn good looks, but no one will ever know, because no one ever returns…

On this day there was one who refused to wait patiently any longer, who began to believe all this talk was just myth, simply urban legend; this ‘one’ was named ‘Kensington Ci65 Notebook Mouse’. He’s had enough of waiting quietly, he’d tried so hard to impress both left and right-handed users, tempting them with his 27MHz – a range up to 2 metres, his sleep mode for power saving, his 1 year battery life together with his other fancy features. But time and time again, his peers were chosen, peers that didn’t even have sleep mode, all they had to say for themselves was that they came cheap, but they certainly couldn’t guarantee complete satisfaction, not like he could.

Kensington Ci65 had his own ideas; he knew he was a mouse, he wasn’t stupid, but the idea of having his buttons pressed by dirty fingers no longer pleased him. He wanted to become a REAL mouse and he knew the only way he could ever have this was if he found himself a loving owner – and that wasn’t going to happen whilst sat in a box in the land of ‘Store Room’ now was it? No, it was time Ci65 found his own way in life; he needed to escape Store Room and he needed to do this without this ‘Keighley’ being noticing. Drawing attention to himself when it’s not required could get him in real trouble. The talk of Store Room was that anyone found out of their packaging was then taken and used by the people of a place called ‘Office 365’. Goodness knows what that would entail, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out!

Ci65 had watched for days, studying the process this Keighley performed each day when packaging his little friends up to get them out of the office. She used boxes, freshly opened cardboard cartons and lots of bubble wrap. All he had to do was willingly pack himself into one of these out-going boxes, then when it reached its destination, he could make his escape; no one said they had to have any loyalty to their new owners…he’d simply slip away and start his new free life! He’d find his own buyer who would take him home, love him, polish him and turn him on, then in time, with enough love he’d become real, a real life mouse!

Regular as clock work, at 4pm on this day Keighley came into Store Room. She set out a few boxes and began picking items to be packed; Rapid Duax HD170 (the bully of the stapler breed – they all breathed a sigh of relief when he was packed away!), packs of sticky tape and gel pens, she packed away a couple of large white boards and then boxed a large quantity of ring binders (rumour has it they were sold real cheap because of their quantity – still, at least they got to stick together!). As soon as Keighley left to find the packing tape (she never did remember to bring it with her!) Ci65 took his chance and leapt into a little gap left in one of the boxes. With the use of his ‘sleep mode’ facility, Ci65 shut down and was still; he knew that if his plan was to work, next time he awoke he’d be seeing a whole new world!

Sure enough, the very next day (thanks to the super fast delivery of Office 365) Ci65 did awake, and he did find himself in a whole new world! He here’d the noise of lots of ‘beings’, small being’s, all running and shouting and making a mess. He was soon to learn that he’d found his place in a school, a school full of dirty fingers; dirty fingers who’d press his buttons all day long, who’s drop him and bang him on the table tops. He was soon to learn that not even his sleep mode could save him here; he was soon to plan his next great escape.

If you’re looking for a binder which will house large quantities of paper, plastic pockets and general paper work, then a lever-arch file will always be a better option than the ring binder. Although the ring binder is a cost effective solution, they can often be disappointing in terms of capacity and as a result you’ll find that you need to purchase 2 and sometime 3 as opposed to just one lever-arch file. A larger and more robust option, the lever arch file will not only house a large stack of papers, but it will also allow you to easy sift through them too.

Fitted with a D-Rings mechanism, these rings are often fixed onto the inside back cover so that the contents sit flat on the back cover and square on the right hand edge of the ring. For this reason, lever arch-files have a wider cover and so will also allow for additions such as dividers, indexes and tabs. The mechanism also features a lever which is where the binder derives its name from. This lever is responsible for opening and closing the claps with ease.

Choosing a lever arch file for your individual needs isn’t easy at all when the choice is as extensive as this! This is why we’re attempting to alleviate the strain by choosing the best lever arch files for you! Obviously you don’t have to go with our findings; we’re just giving you an easy option should time be in short supply for you!  Given everyone’s current financial state during these times, we thought we’d go with finding you the best cheap lever arch files and based on that have chosen a real cracker for you!

The featured 5 Star Lever Arch File comes in packs of 10 and comes in at a tiny £15.61 INC VAT!

• Lever arch files with a cloud effect paper covering over a high quality board
• Metal finger pull lining and reinforced bottom edge provide added durability
• Slotted covers provide added file stability when in use
• Supplied complete with compressor bar
• Spine label for easy identification of contents
• 70mm spine width
• A4
• Packed 10

These cloud effect paper covered lever arch files are constructed from a high quality board and sport a handy metal finger pull for easy retrieval, added lining and reinforced bottom edge for protection from wear and tear, which all accounts for its added durability. The slotted covers provide added file stability when in use, and what’s more, these files are supplied complete with compressor bar for easy opening of mechanism. Finished with a spine label for easy identification and with a capacity of 7cm, these A4 files tick all the boxes! (Convert cm to inches)

Back by popular demand, today we bring you an article about hole punches, or more specifically, our top 5 hole punches. As there are so many different requirements of these little office tools, it can be difficult to choose one that will fit everyone’s individual needs. For example, where one person may be looking for something heavy-duty and that will punch though large quantities of paper, another person may be looking for a hole punch that fits their small budget. Other’s maybe looking for a single punch; whereas innovative features and high quality could be on the list of essentials for another. So we will choose 5 punches; one which is the heaviest duty and will punch through the highest volume of paper, a second which is cheap (but reliable), another that is our best option single punch, a fourth which has all the innovative features such as a paper alignment guide, adjustable dies and more and a fifth which we feel is the best all rounder.

At number one, we have the Rapesco 2160 Heavy-Duty 2-Hole Punch featured. This is our maximum capacity hole punch which is capable of punching through a truly incredible 300 sheets of 80gsm paper! It offers a high level of leverage for minimal effort saving pain and pressure to the palms, an adjustable and lockable paper gauge for setting paper sizes and a very useful paper compressor to ensure precise and clean holes! To finish, this incredible hole punch has a top end 15 year guarantee! This has to be the best hole punch for the demanding office or school and you can have it all for £282.47 INC VAT!

At number two we have the Rapid Eco 2-Hole Hole Punch featured. Although this isn’t our cheapest model, it is certainly amongst them. We struggled to pick our ultimate budget stapler (which of course is made by our value stationery brand 5 Star) as we wanted to choose something that would fit the bill (so to speak) AND which was more likely to stand the test of time and long use. So of course we opted for Rapid, one of our most reputable brands for hole punches. This particular model even boasts environmental friendliness as well as all the strength and durability of the rest of our Rapid standard hole punch range. Featuring the standard 5 year guarantee, this hole punch has been constructed from 80% recycled plastic! With a punching capacity of 20 sheets, and an adjustable paper guide and centre mark, you can have it all for the tiny price of £7.52 INC VAT!

At number three and our best single hole punch (without breaking the bank) is our Rapesco Single Punch featured. We haven’t chosen the cheapest here as we weren’t convinced of its complete reliability costing just a couple of pounds, yet we didn’t go for the most expensive either. This mid range single punch from Rapesco is just the ticket. Said to be a great one for ticket inspectors, this Rapesco hole punch is great for repetitive use throughout the day thanks to its ergonomic handle. Pucnhing through stacks of 23 sheets and producing a 6mm hole, this contraption comes complete with a 15 year guarantee! All this for just £13.18 INC VAT!

At number four we have chosen the Leitz Akto Adjustable Hole Punch featured. This innovative hole punch from Leitz has been created to allow for punching of a range of different hole placements with four fully adjustable punch dies that are 6mm in diameter and will punch through 30 sheets of paper and a 240mm revolving setting scale! The punching mechanisms can be removed completely or added to create the exact spacing’s you require, plus with a reduced effort ergonomic handle, sliding metal guide bar and a 10 year guarantee, this one is certainly has the innovative features! All this for just £83.46 INC VAT!

Finally our best all rounder chosen in terms of fair pricing, quality features and durability is the Rapid HDC65 Heavy-Duty Hole Punch featured. This Rapid heavy duty hole punch has been voted best middle range punch many times by not only ourselves, but our customers too. Its ergonomic Swedish design and reassuring 5 year guarantee means that you can feel safe in the knowledge that this useful contraption will last! Ideal for all heavy duty applications, this will punch through 65 sheets! Also boasting a lock-down handle devise for ease of storage and a paper positioning guide, you can have it for the reasonable price of £42.46 INC VAT!