Bulldog clips are very popular here at Office 365, which it seems, is down to our reasonable prices. And by bulldog clips, I mean a rather sensible looking item of stationery used to temporarily bind together sheets of paper, NOT clips that are made in the shape of a bulldog, or that are used to clip your bulldog in various ways. I mean, why on earth would you want to clip your bulldog, it’s not as if their ears are excessively floppy or their tail gets in the way?! I suppose they could be used to clip their upper lip out of the way while you clean their teeth, but that’s just surreal. No, we supply plane old bulldog clips as featured below which our beloved Wikipedia describes as; “a rectangular sheet of springy steel curved into a cylinder, with two flat steel strips inserted to form combined handles and jaws.”

Here at Office 365 we have a variety of 5 Star Bulldog Clips which tick every box and more. Why pay for the more expensive brands for items such as this. Save the high class brands for when you’re looking for specialist paper, attractive pens and heavy duty items such as staplers and hole punches. When it comes to pins, clips, note paper and so on, there really is no need to spend more. The featured bulldog clips are not only as strong and durable as other brands, but they are also available in a pack of ten, assorted colours. This means you can colour code to your heart’s content making it easier to retrieve the paper work you need, when you need it.

• 5 Star Grip Clips
• Size: 40mm
• Assorted Colours
• Packed 10
• RRP £7.15 – Our Price just £2.36!

At this unbeatable price you can’t go wrong, but don’t let this incredible deal put you off, no quality is lost here! 5 Star have over 15 years worth of experience in producing world class office supplies and 22,000 items in their range, you’re bound to find what you need. 5 Star’s range is affordable for all, yet all their products have a pleasing quality. Based in the UK 5 Star’s affordable range has attractively designed packaging for clearer product display and product information, plus they also have a fantastic choice of ‘Green’ options for those who are economically aware. So, as you can see 5 Star really are five stars! No wonder we rate them so highly.

Some might say that Hercules was a God, THE god in fact of all the paperclips, but he didn’t begin that way. Little Hercules was but a mere paperclip, just like all the rest; he did as he was told, he stuck by the strict and ridiculous rules of the office and of course the sacred law of the paperclips. Under no circumstances, ever, should a paperclip ever be seen to move by the human eye, ever.

So it was, life for Hercules was as you would expect, Monday to Friday 9-5, Hercules and his fellow companions were still, still as can be, in draws, fastened to paperwork, in desk tidies and various other places around the office. But after 5pm and when the cleaner had been and gone the paperclips came alive and boy did they party. They loved to link hands and circle dance and their wonderful bendiness helped them to party like no other item of stationery (much to the bane of the staples who as we know remain stuck in strips and shut inside a darkened box).

However, one day Christmas Eve in fact, after enduring the gruelling process of being bent backwards and forwards by some numpty of an office clerk, Hercules decided he’d had quite enough thank you very much. Fuelled by the anger of his humiliation, Hercules conjured up the most almighty plan, the plan of all plans, a plan so mighty and so exquisite that it still exists today.

He took his pedestal on top of the mighty photocopier and bellowed as loudly as he possibly could (which let’s face it, wouldn’t be very loud coming from a paperclip) “Oi, oi, listen up, you Jack, Jessica, Amanda, Pete, Carmen, Dave, John, Rosamund, all of you, come close, I have a plan). So the paper clips proceeded to unfasten themselves from the Christmas cards and string, the paperwork and receipts, the desk pots and so on and gathered around Hercules (who may I add was sporting a rather day glow pink colour with green stripes, rather different from most of the other paperclips). Hercules spoke loud and clear, his plan was to build a tower by the office door using the Christmas cards (which had now fallen off their string). He told them that they were to un-bend him, to ignore his screams of pain, and once unbent, to use him as a pick to UNLOCK THE OFFICE DOOR.

Thrilled at the idea of freedom the others happily agreed and Carmen (Hercules’s sister) jumped straight onto Twitter to tell all the paperclips across the world of their plan, their plan for Freedom! The response was really quite amazing and soon it was trending globally! And so it was, on Christmas Eve, paperclips across the world escaped. Paperwork was left dishevelled, Christmas cards lay on the floor and Offices everywhere were left in a state of chaos. But the little paperclips didn’t stop there; having a new taste for freedom, they decided to make this a yearly thing, so every Christmas from then until this day, paperclips have been picking locks and running riot. It has been said that some have formed unions, some have even rebelled and now you will find groups of paperclips who revolt, who fight for their freedom and escape in masses throughout the year creating movements globally for fair rights and equality.

So my fellow readers, now we can begin to understand why, no matter how many hundreds of paperclips are ordered into our homes and offices every year, we can never find one when we need it most, it’ll be off campaigning somewhere, or worshiping the mighty Hercules, God of all paperclips.

If you don’t believe me, buy your paperclips now so that you can hang all your Office Christmas cards on string (saving much needed work space in the office) and set up the CCTV so that the camera is pointing in their direction. Then you’ll see, oh then you’ll see.

Last year we recommended to you our faithful and loyal customers, a fantastic Christmas gift idea; the Christmas Hamper. However we ended up inundated with people looking for Christmas Hamsters! So today we yet again bring you the announcement that Office 365 sell gorgeous Christmas Hampers, the perfect gift for staff, clients and customers with plenty of different options to choose from. But please, if you’re looking for the perfect Christmas Hamster, you’ll need to go to your local pet shop! I really don’t think you’re child would be particularly pleased with a basket filled with nice grub instead of their new squeaky friend, just as Vice Versa, I’m not sure what your clients would think if you bought them a hamster?  We are Office 365 for a reason, buy your animals elsewhere!

This year instead of offering you ready made hampers, we’re giving you the chance to create your own! All you need to do is find the box or basket that you’d like to present the goodies in and we’ll do the rest. Take your pick from a large variety of different goodies and treats that would put a smile o the face of any recipient. But what’s more, it doesn’t even have to be a food hamper, take a look at your options;

• Food – Choose from items such as Cadbury’s chocolate fingers, Cadbury’s biscuit selection, Crawford’s biscuits, Fox’s biscuits, Fair-trade biscuits and many more from Maryland, McVities, Oreo, Go-Ahead and Traidcraft. We also have various different chocolates and sweets available from Cadbury’s, Divine, Fox’s, Mars, Mentos, Nestle and Twix. Finally select from various different hot and cold beverages and you have the perfect hamper selection!
• Stationery – Why not create the perfect hamper for your child starting school, college or university, or indeed the ideal hamper selection for your friend or loved one starting their new job? Select from a wide variety of pens, paper, rulers, ink, pads, envelopes, labels, files, pockets, diaries and calendars. With a great selection of all these bits and pieces, your child, friend or loved one can be all prepared for the year ahead!
• The Clean Freak – Do you have a Mr Muscle in the family, or maybe a washer woman? Do you know someone close to you who just loves to clean? Then why not buy them their dream cleaning hamper collection? Choose from various kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, towels, polishes, bin liners and so much more, what a treat!..

You get the idea; at Office 365 you can tailor the hamper to the individual, you just need a touch of imagination and a box or basket. If you’d like some help choosing or are in need of more information, please get in touch, we’re always happy to help! – 0870 766 1624

Most every artist will use a cutting mat. Without one the outcome is quite obvious; you’ll find cuts, marks and scrapes all over your working surface which not only ruins your furniture and causes it to look unsightly, but also creates an uneven working surface which will interfere with your artwork. The best possible solution is a cutting mat as they help to protect your knife or other such equipment from becoming blunt, they save your furniture and they also act as a measuring guide. However they get better than this; Self Healing Cutting Mats are quite possibly the most efficient idea yet!

Created with conservators, framers, artists and designers in mind, this type of mat gives the important cushioning that is required of a cutting mat along with being non-slip so you don’t have to worry about slipping and sliding as you work or worse still, cutting your fingers! Because of the self healing nature of the board, it has the ability to absorb small nicks or cuts and is far more likely to survive multiple uses than the standard cutting mat.

Our self healing mats are available from the Linex brand, take for example our Linex Hobby A1 Anti-Slip Self Healing Cutting Mat featured to your right. Also available in A2, A3 and A4 sizes, this mat boasts additional extras such as a measuring grid to the front which allows for better alignment and a staggering 62% off when you purchase it at Office 365.

• Three layer, one hard layer between two soft layers, and can be used on both sides
• Anti-slip, self-healing material
• Metric millimetre grid on one side
• A1 Size
• Now just £24.84!

Linex products come from the brand Bantex, an Elba Ltd company who have been established since 1961. The company are renowned for providing a wide range of office stationery and back to school products for both the commercial and the home office market sectors. Their popularity most likely derives from their exceptional value for money and their unique features. Bantex internationally pursues the ISO9002 quality assurance mark, along with their commitment to quality enforced through the achievement of various international standards including the BS EN ISO 9001:2000.

The Green Bit

In their commitment to maintain a sustainable environment for future generations, Bantex will endeavour to recycle all products in Australia from the Ecoboard range at the end of their useful cycle.

Today Elba are able to offer all major products in eco-friendly plastic. Elba is also committed to its published environment policy and has ISO 14001:2004 certification. For example, their Touareg range is an environmentally friendly range of filing products made entirely from recyclable board and polypropylene. The pulp used to make this board is produced from sustainable forests and is certified totally chlorine free. The polypropylene range is made using material mixed with natural wood fibres which enhances the visual impact of the range.

As a student the amount of paper you can go through in a term is really quite astonishing! For every subject you learn you will have a separate ring binder or lever arch file fully loaded with ruled paper for making notes, writing coursework and completing essays. In fact I remember it well; almost weekly I’d be buying more ruled refill pads, it was simply ridiculous! It seems that it’s no different in the office either. Ruled paper is used is every area of the office, normally with a pad per desk for note taking during telephone calls, for bullet points during meetings, for jotting down relevant information when dealing with customer and client relations, queries and complaints; the list is endless! So what we all seem to be looking for is a cheap supplier who can keep our cupboards laden with luscious lined A4 refill pads and at a cost which will make this endless demand less of a ‘pinch’ pocket wise.

Here at Office 365, if you’re looking for value, there’s no brand better than 5 Star, and we have plenty of different 5 Star products to offer! Let’s face it; if you’re looking for lined paper it will be for the general uses mentions above, or similar, so why opt for the more expensive brands? 5 Star ruled refill pads like the one featured, will do all that is required of a note ‘taking paper’ and will stand up to the test for students work too! This particular pad boasts;

• Refill pads in a headbound format with a durable cloth binding
• Backboard provides additional rigidity and support
• 60gsm white paper
• Four-hole punched
• 160 pages per pad
• Feint ruled with margin
• Size: A4 (297 x 210mm)
• Packed 10
• 81% off – Now just £7.49! (while stocks last)

5 Star products are now firmly established as one of the best-known office products brands in the UK and with 15 years experience behind them, they are now experts in their field and even offer a 12 month no quibble quality guarantee! They deliver unbeatable price and quality, across the most popular everyday product lines, plus they’re also one of the most widely available ranges of office products. With over 22,000 products on offer, our customers are always happy with the selection as well as the value of the items they are ordering.

Each 5 Star product now has attractively designed packaging for clearer product display and product information, plus they also have a fantastic choice of ‘Green’ options for those who are economically aware.

The fineliner pen is designed for many areas with a huge range suitable for users such as the professional, children and then of course the standard pen. One way to decipher which pen is best for your own personal need is to take a look at its nib and line widths. Line widths include 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm, 0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm & 2mm line widths, so you’ll need to think about what style of writing or design work you’d like to create or for teachers and parents, you’ll need to decide which would be best for a child learning to write and draw.

Fineliner pens are commonly used for writing, sketching, drawing, caricaturist, cartoon, architectural plans, watercolour fine details and all general sketching. The selection must be extensive to cover all these areas as professional users will need to find specific qualities for their individual needs. For this reason, here you will find a huge selection from many quality and budget brands such as 5 Star, Artline, Berol, Bic, Papermate, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and of course Staedtler – this is naming just a few!

Take a look at our Edding 55 Fineliner Pen for example.

• Ideal for detailed writing and drawing
• 0.4mm nib set in metal casing to protect and support
• Long write out length
• Water-based ink
• Line width: 0.4mm
• Black
• Packed 10
• With 30% off, this is now just £7.83!

This is a great example of a professional fineliner pen perfect for the designer or the artist and yet is affordable for most budgets. However there are plenty more fineliner pens where that came from here at Office 365, so why not take a browse for yourself!

The Green Bit

At Edding and Legamaster, responsibility for the environment is an enshrined part of company philosophy. When they plan their products, packaging and materials they also take into account the environmental aspects. This is a commitment that goes far beyond the statutory limits imposed. One consequence of this, for example, is that Edding markers and writing implements contain the “kindest” solvent possible. Most of their products are refillable. By offering cartridges and replaceable nibs, they can extend the life of their markers and so offer an attractive financial gain into the bargain. Refill it, don’t bin it: that’s their motto.

It is also the company’s principle to reduce the amount of packaging to the absolute minimum and to use standardised ISO multi-purpose packaging made of recyclable materials with a high waste-paper content. And it goes without saying that they avoid PVC, polystyrene and foam CFCs whenever they can. In 1995, Edding AG were awarded the much coveted B.A.U.M prize for the environment in recognition of their efforts.

On 1st January 2008 Edding became even ‘greener’. From this day on the Headquarters in Ahrensburg as well as the distribution centre in Wunstorf are consuming “green” energy by Greenpeace Energy. The decision was supported by the Management Board – only with the consequent use of environmental friendly energy the environment can be protected and preserved. Within this context all employees at Ahrensburg and Wunstorf were informed on this step were encouraged to make this step in private, too.

A drawing board is one of the most useful drawing aids there are and even with the latest advances in technology, and art and graphics software such as Photoshop, Photoscape, Adobe and more, professionals still turn to the drawing board for professional results. A drawing board will clip your piece of paper in place and is available in various sizes depending on how big you intend your artwork to be. The wonderful thing about a drawing board is that it can be positioned in pretty much anyway, in terms of height and tilt. Drawing boards also tend to have a grid on them making them ideal for use with technical work helping with better placement.

Popular among drafters, architects and even some structural designers, drawing boards are used to prepare neat and accurate drawings. However in order to guarantee an absolutely precise drawing, it is imperative to make sure you have the best quality instruments to prepare them. A good drawing board can be adjusted in height and tilt before you use it which is great for freehand drawing, and can be lowered again for more involved work. It is recommended that you position the drawing board at the right height first so that you can then set the tilt afterwards in order to suit the comfortable angle of the hand.

Our recommended drawing board would be the Rotring Designer Drawing Board which is featured below. It comes as a complete drawing system with drawing board laminated on all sides, anodized aluminium guide track with plastic guide coating, parallel straightedge with STOP-and-GO mechanism, professional drawing head with STOP-and-GO mechanism and adjustable plastic tilter!

• Size: 700 x 600 x 16mm
• Free Delivery!
• £81.68 Off – Now just £161.22!

Rotring is the brand used by people who value the power of ideas and visions and who strive to give these the highest form of expression. Rotring is known as being the brand who provide the best possible product solution no matter what the situation, so wherever you see the Rotring red ring logo, you can be sure that the product boasts excellent ergonomics and design and will enable you to work with precision and accuracy.

When fastening together papers, commonly peoples first thought is to staple the paper or use paperclips as they are the quickest option. These solutions are quick and easy, however are useless if you’d like to bind paper together of a larger quantity or you’d like to be able to add and remove pages at a later date. There are plenty of options out there such as slide binding, comb binding, wire binding and so on, however the simplest preference is for Treasury Tags (aka India tags). These paper fasteners need to be of a certain length in order to hold your paper together securely. Made up of a piece of string, typically around 3 to 8 cm or 1 to 3 inches long, a treasury tag has a metal or plastic bar at each end which is the component responsible for securing the paper. This bar is threaded through holes in paper which have been created by a hole punch and normally start off being threaded through a front cover and finish through the back cover. Treasury tags come in various different lengths of string so that depending on the thickness of the stack of pages, the appropriate length treasury tag can be used. The bigger the stack of paper, the longer the string will need to be, just as the fewer the sheets of paper, the shorter the string will need to be. Use this guide as an estimate;

• Paper thickness up to 25mm – 25mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 51mm – 51mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 63mm – 63mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 76mm – 76mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 102mm – 102mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 127mm - 127mm Treasury Tags
• Paper thickness up to 152mm – 152mm Treasury Tags

The featured treasury tags are made by our 5 Star brand and consist of green cord with metal end bars. An economical form of filing, treasury tags normally come in boxes of approximately 100 and have very small price tags! In fact, our range is available with at least 64% off! Remember though people, before punching your holes in your paper, make sure that they are at the left hand side and that they are at least an inch into the paper both from the top and the left. Forgetting this can result in rips and tears which would be a shame, and a pain!

Practical, perfect white paper,

Is peachy for practicing poems,

Pick up a page and preach with your pen,

Part with your pride for the power!

We use paper everyday unknowingly! That may sound strange, but do we ever realise what we’re doing when we’re scribbling down notes, doodling and taking messages? The act of grabbing a scrap piece or sheet of paper is almost unconscious; we can certainly say we take paper for granted! It important however to appreciate its source; we destroy many, many trees every day so that we can have the paper we use without even thinking about it! It’s also quite surprising how big an impact and how much of an impression the quality of paper can have. Thinner, budget paper is all well and good for everyday printing, notes, messages and your kids art, but when you’re presenting an important document, a legal document, an invitation or a letter, quality is extremely important! It’s always better in these instances to go for a thicker option, say 90gsm paper, giving a more firm, smooth and white finish.

Our Color Copy A4 White Copier Paper featured to the right, fits the entire bill! Not only does this paper boast premium quality and super smooth texture, but it’s also environmentally friendly too!

• A range of superior smooth colour laser papers with excellent whiteness designed specifically for use on colour laser printers and copiers
• Ideal for brochures, reports and presentations with the card weights being the perfect choice for report covers and business cards
• Produced using FSC certified fibre from well-managed forests independently certified according to the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council
• Guaranteed for use on mono and colour laser printers and copiers
• 90gsm
• Size: A4
• Packed: 500 sheets
• 66% off! Now just £8.79 a ream!

Color Copy is a brand of paper brought to us by The Robert Horne Group who were founded in London back in 1925 by Mr Robert Horne (of course!). The group has since grown to be the UK’s leading supplier of paper, board and plastics. The company are committed to taking all reasonable steps to fulfil their duties through economically, environmentally and socially sustainable means. They will endeavour to conduct all their activities with integrity and demonstrate the highest ethical standards in any dealings with all stakeholders. Color copy paper guarantees usability on all mono and colour laser printers and is able to boast FSC mixed sources SGS-COC-0912. The fibre used to make their paper is Virgin wood fibre from South Africa, South America, Scandinavia and Europe and the pulp is bleached using an Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) process. Disposal of the paper can be done through either recycling or incineration for energy.

The Robert Horne Environmental Initiatives

• ISO14001 at Northampton Head Office and National Distribution Centre
• FSC Chain of Custody (SGS-COC-000912)
• PEFC Chain of Custody (SGS-PEFC/COC-0104)
• The only major paper merchant to be a member of the WWF-UK Forest & Trade Network
• Committed to a policy of responsible paper purchasing
• Comprehensive supplier evaluation process, supported by a robust database of environmental product information
• Unrivalled choice of recycled-content and FSC or PEFC certified products
• Committed to a policy of Corporate Social Responsibility
• Environmental Manager available for help and advice
• Committed to a policy of energy efficiency and carbon reduction
• yoyo ‘closed loop’ office paper recycling service
• Waste recycling scheme for Sign and Display materials

We are always happy to be supporting a company who do good in this world and the Robert Horne Group are certainly able to say they do their bit. The brand are proud to support Childline as its nominated charity.

Although A4 is our standard ISO paper size and the most commonly used for most applications, A5 sized paper is a close follower. Popular among schools, offices and homes, A5 paper is perfect for a range of different uses and is also the most commonly found size in notepads and pocket books. Measuring 148 × 210 millimeters or 5.83 × 8.27 inches, A5 paper’s dimensions in PostScript are rounded off to 420 × 595 points and is also sometimes referred to as DIN A5. More often than not used for flyers and leaflets, but also for making greetings cards, A5 paper is highly adaptable. Businesses may find it beneficial to order large quantities of A5 Paper, a good quality printer and to print up their own flyers. This is a good way to cut marketing costs and also printing costs. Another budget yet quality idea would be to print your companies letterhead on the paper for all non-formal communications, this will look both professional and impressive yet would cost you less than having them printed professionally.

Our favorite A5 paper is this Data Copy 80gsm A5 White Paper featured to your right. Featuring;

• The everyday paper you need to keep all your office equipment working hard
• No messing with the easy to open box
• Ideal for volume copying and printing, everyday correspondence, reports and presentations
• Smooth, white paper that gives you great results every time, whether in colour or black and white
• All boxes have the comfy Grab-and-Go handle (excluding four-hole punched)
• 80gsm
• Size: A5 (297 x 210)
• White
• Packed: 500 sheets
• Environmentally friendly – Forest Stewardship Council
• 63% off! Now just £5.21!

The Data Copy brand manufactures paper under the umbrella company, Talk Paper who were formed in 2002 from the merger of MoDo Office and County Paper. Their wholly owned dedicated logistics provider boasts 16 distribution locations around the country, including two central distribution centres and the 14 regional distribution centres throughout the UK and Ireland. The brand was UK’s first dedicated national office paper merchant and are a direct subsidiary of the largest paper merchandising group in Europe – Antalis. Talk Paper are proud to be the only office paper merchant to hold the prestigious Royal Warrant to supply Her Majesty The Queen.

The Data Copy range gives brilliant results on all the latest office equipment – colour, black-and-white, inkjet and laser. The Data Copy Colour Printing paper is an amazingly white and amazingly smooth paper which is perfect for presentations, reports and colour coverage. It produces sharp images and bright colours while giving brilliant results on all colour office printing.