The school summer holidays are fast approaching which means that you teachers have some organising to do! Aside from all the planning and preparation needed in order to ensure that the new school year and class get off to a good start, you’ll also need to consider your supplies. Cast your mind forward; do you have enough paper to see you through the year? How are the colouring pencils looking, running low? Have you lost one too many pencil sharpeners and now finding one when you need it is a mission? Have the children snapped the rulers and how are the erasers looking? Printer cartridges run low pretty quick, have you stocked your store cupboards? The list of supplies is never ending.

Your class are likely to create project books; do you have enough treasury tags? Have you checked your glue sticks recently, are they looking dried up? It’s impossible to address an entire class without a whiteboard or blackboard; do you have the chalk or markers?

Office 365 is a website which caters to all your school needs. We really do have everything you need and more besides. From your trimmers and guillotines, to staplers and staples, we even have a great range of electrical’s for your convenience! Office 365’s range even stretches to furniture so that you can purchase classroom desks, receptions furniture, canteen tables and even lockers at the same place you’ll find your filing supplies so that ordering can be done with just one company; us!

But it doesn’t stop there! We’ve carefully considered further incentives so that we can be sure that we’re bringing you the best deal and a service which far exceeds that of our competitors! We’re so confident of our low prices that we even offer a price match policy! Further to this, if you’re ordering from a school we can accept official purchase orders faxed to our FreeFax 0800 612 9524 or sent via email with the order attached to sales@office365.co.uk! Ordering in bulk can often mean you’ll qualify for further discounts too, so don’t forget to ask.

Finally, all new customers will earn an additional 10% off their first order, plus every order over the value of £60 qualifies for a free chocolate gift! Think of it as bribery for the school kids! You can pay using credit or debit cards, or even using PayPal when you buy online! However if you’d like to discuss payment methods further, then do feel free to contact us on 0870 766 1624.

Last Christmas we told you of the almighty Hercules, God of all paperclips. We let you into the secret of the great paperclip escape and how every year since then, as a commemoration to the scared Hercules escape and the new found freedom of the enslaved paperclips, all paperclip Nationwide plan their own mighty missions, their own plans to leave their torturous captivity. Paperclips still today campaign for their rights, fight for their freedom which they can still only achieve by breaking free. Still today paperclips fight for the opportunity of a free life, one that will not enslave them at any point and force them into situations where they must revolt and break laws….all this thanks to you Hercules, oh lord almighty.

Now one year on since revealing the story, Hercules is now more famous than ever! THE most talked about paperclip, Hercules is still an ‘A’ list celebrity in the stationery world, and some are worrying that it may have gone to his head a little! Wonder of all wonders, you’ll even find ‘pin ups’ of him in some young staples bedrooms, despite the fact that staples have a deep resentment towards paperclips (as unlike them, paperclips are able to bind papers AND be individual, staples do so hate the fact they come bound so tightly together in strips, they’re so unbelievably envious of the paperclips independence). But all is not well with Hercules…

We’ve gathered since the paperclip ‘awakening’, that Hercules is no standard wire binder. He has a certain intelligence which is unusual in a stationery item of his type. We’ve all here’d that calculators have it and that even Post-it notes have something pretty special (how are they able to stick and stick again and stick again and not fall down?), but a paperclip? To find the brainpower to conjure up such a plan, goodness only knows how something without a head has such wisdom! However, with Hercules new found freedom and fame, he has been led astray, exposed and has seen things that no paperclip should ever be exposed to. Loving the celebrity lime light he threw himself into it, making it to every party going, every grand opening, and even found himself on various TV shows such as CBeebies Mr Maker and ITV’s, A Touch of Frost!

The demand was high and the pressure was great, Hercules was beginning to buckle. He formed a nasty drug habit and ended up in rehab. Within weeks of being released he turned to booze. You may wonder how on earth a paperclip could consume anything; however you haven’t considered Hercules intelligence! He discovered that paperclips are not solid at all, in fact, they are relatively straw like. If you examine a paperclip under a very, very, very, very strong microscope, you will find that it is in fact hollow, with the tiniest hole running through the very middle of the paperclips length.

Goodness knows what will become of Hercules now, he doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of corrosion or wear, but then he is coated in day glow pink with green stripes which could be protecting his outer’s.

Hercules spent this Christmas rather alone, reflecting on the time that has elapsed since his great escape, and secretly (although he’ll never admit it), missing his life in the office, where everything was routine, everything was safe and where he knew exactly what each day would have in store for him. We shall re-visit Hercules next Christmas and with any luck, he may even give us an interview. Until then, from all of us here at Office 365, we wish our Hercules all the best and can only hope he finds his old strength and makes a full recovery.

For most of you, this is your final chance to get your supplies in ready for the new school term! You’ll need colouring supplies and desk tides, paper, glue, staplers, staples, erasers, sharpeners, OHP film, paper clips, sticky tape, scissors, pens; the list is endless and that’s just for the classroom! For the school office you’ll need to stock back up on ink cartridges for your printers and fax machines, rubber stamps, telephone message pads and so on. But what all the kids leaving their primary schools are preparing for is of course their top school supplies!

They’ll need a list of supplies that include; pencils, pens, colouring supplies, geometry sets, rulers, erasers, sharpeners, calculators, binders and pockets, highlighters and so on. Luckily Office 365 are your one top shop and so rather than trawling though your high street shops for your long list of supplies, try finding everything you need here! Plus, if this is your first order with us, we’ll give you 10% off. Coupled with our Price Match Guarantee, you’re sure to find the best deal going with us!

One of the most wanted top school supplies in demand right now is the binder. Also highly beneficial for those starting college or 6^th form, the binder is an essential tool for storing class work, case studies, coursework, homework, artwork, and so on. To narrow down the incredible list of options for you, we’ve picked out one which seems to tick all the most essential boxes. We needed to look at first and foremost, value for money, then durability as we wouldn’t want to recommend one which will fall apart and finally capacity. We found this;

The Elba Index Ring Binder featured most certainly has it all, and more!

• Extra wide covers enable the file to be used in conjunction with dividers or punched pockets without them protruding
• Four D-ring binding mechanism with 40mm capacity!
• Clear ticket holder on spine for easy identification of contents
• Full clear pockets to front and back covers
• Size: A4
• White
• Packed 4
• Just £41.83 inc VAT!

This robust pack of binders will hold all your punched pockets, indexes, tabs and a huge abundance of paperwork effortlessly whilst allowing full personalisation. Coming in packs of 4 means that you can have one for each subject, or one for each child! This one certainly gets our approval, however there are plenty where that came from. So for a full list of available binders, come and explore our world of stationery at Office 365 UK!

I’ve never actually known the correct term for these robust clips before, but they’ve always stood out to me with their strong clip section and there lever like metal clasps; there’s no other clip or fastener quote like them! The Fold Back Clip (also known as the binder clip) as it seems their called, are a concept that have been around for quite some time now and haven’t changed at all in its existence. The little binder was patented 100 years ago as a replacement to the tiresome process of manually hole-punching and binding papers with treasury tags. Now the addictive little play thing can be found in most every office, home, and even tool kit!

Foldback clips are made of a solid but flexible piece of steel and two hinged wires; when folded back, the binder clip’s metal hooks provide a leverage which opens the heavy-duty spring-loaded clasp. When you have fastened you papers or materials with the clasp, the metal arms fold forward again so that they are flush against the papers (or materials). Many people ask the question; why not just buy paper clips. The answers simple; paperclips just don’t hold anywhere near the amount of papers together as the foldback clip do, nor do they hold them as securely (despite our own Hercules the Paperclip protests). Other alternatives such as staples, treasury tags and wire/comb binders require the papers to be punctured; the foldback clip does not and is completely non-destructive.

Foldback clips can even be used in other areas aside from filing. Many people use them when hemming and for other material work and a great many people keep them in their tool boxes for temporary clamping and other such like tasks. Around the home they are useful for countless tasks; clamp them to your dressing table or mirror to hang jewellery from, or use them to gather jumbled leads together, the mind boggles! In the office they can be clamped to the sides of desks and the metal hooks can then be used to hang various leads and cables or even your tie if the office has become a little warm! There are certainly untold uses for these handy little gadgets!

Our Foldback clips come in many different sizes to suit different tasks:

• 19mm
• 24mm
• 25mm
• 32mm
• 41mm
• 50mm
• 51mm

The larger the clip, the bulkier load of paper or materials can be clamped. Smaller clips can be useful when filing in drawers and cabinets and they do not consume so much space. To browse a full selection we recommend that you visit our site where you will find all sizes and colours available to suit your individual needs. For help and advice please call us on 0870 766 1624.

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.

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!

Easters around the corner and it’s time to get crafty! This one’s great for at home, but also in the office to boost morale. With the forthcoming ‘bank holiday season’ just around the corner and quite a bit of time off for the kids, getting crafty is a great way of keeping them entertained that doesn’t need to break the bank. Use this time to make little Easter gifts for friends and family, the kids will love it! Times are tough in the office with very few companies offering anything in the way of pay raises and bonuses so we must make sure to keep the staff’s morale up. Taking a few hours in the afternoon aside in your office can really put the smile back on their faces, as will the fact that your getting crafty with them and doing a non work related task. Take a look at our step by step guide to making microwavable salt dough Easter nests. Basically, with salt, flour, water and some decorations you can make your own beautiful Easter baskets to give as gifts to family and friends or for your staff to use on their desks for bit’s and bobs such as paperclips. On a rainy or cold day, you will probably have these items around the house.

You will need;

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 ½ cups of hot water
• Paint to decorate

This should be enough for a team or a family to make their little egg/paper clip nests/baskets. After mixing together the above ingredients, get stuck in! It’s fascinating seeing the different nest shapes take form. Make sure that the ‘dip’ is big enough to hold miniature eggs or paperclips and for the kids, maybe encourage them to make more of a basket than a nest. This way it can be used when egg hunting!

Next using a microwavable safe plate, bake your nests/baskets in the microwave for 1 to 4 minutes, increasing the time by 1 minute increments and keeping a close eye on the microwave as they bake. Microwave power levels differ, so use high power in a less-powerful oven, but lower if your oven heats things very quickly. You don’t want to risk a fire! If you’re making these for office use, remember to take the paperclips out before your microwave! Let ornaments cool completely before decorating.

Your desk – A monument of yourself, an illustration of your character and a shadow of your home. From my experience it is fair to say that your desk really does reflect who you are; warts and all and this goes for both the office desk and the home office desk! Now as well as having a fantastic range of desks to choose from, made by a quality array of different brands, we also have everything you could possibly need to accessorise it, organise it and  give it a touch of class. If you’re a desk hopper, there’s never time to allow it to get a mess, but if you’ve been lucky enough to have your own desk in the workplace, value it – and your reputation! Many people say that a messy desk is a messy mind, symbolising someone who is un-organised, incapable and out of their depth. Many employers frown upon their staff who cannot keep their space organised and will favour those who can, even in terms of promotion and pay rise. Why sacrifice such benefits and your good reputation when there are products at hand that can help you keep your desk in order?

At Office 365 you will find many desktop accessories which provide homes for all you’re little bits and pieces, making sure that your possessions are at hand when you need them, not under a heap! With desk blotters available in full and half demy options, book and magazine racks to free up space and keep your literature handy, clipboards, desk mats to protect your desks surface, desk tidies for all those bits and pieces, desk drawers, letter trays and filing units for the filing of frequently needed paperwork, hole punches, perforators, pins clips and fasteners, rubber stamps, scissors and letter openers, stamp pad ink, staplers and removers, staples, tape dispensers, telephone indexes and useful telephone arms which are great for freeing up some desk space, Office 365 certainly have everything you could need!

So now you know how to keep your desk tidy, the tools to do so, and where to get them from, you have no excuses. Turn it around now and let 2011 be the year you impress your boss, get yourself organised and further your career.

It’s not easy to keep your staff happy and working to the best of their ability. As an employer you must not only manage your staff and be an excellent communicator, but you must also be able to keep your team driven and feeling valued. One of the best ways to keep your office motivated is to take part in seasonal celebrations. Let’s face it; it’s not easy going into work over the Christmas season and as Christmas day draws nearer and nearer, we all tend to want to be with our families and friends celebrating. However if you bring a little Christmas into the office, your staff we feel as though they are celebrating the moment too. Have you ever worked in an office where the decorations where adequate for such an occasion? More often than not, offices are decorated with very little in the way of holiday decorations; however we can help you make a tree which will be sure to impress even the most demanding of Christmas enthusiasts.

You Will Need

• Christmas tree – artificial is best
• Paper clips
• Various other office supplies
• CD’s
• Shredded Paper

Firstly you will need to put together your tree using the instructions provided. Remember, the best time to add lights on any Christmas tree is now. It is pretty much impossible to add lights in an effective way when you have already loaded the tree with decorations.

Next you will need to decide on an object to go on top of the tree which is symbolic to your office, some kind of mascot maybe. This would have been hopeless in the case of one of my previous jobs; our office mascot was my 2 year old daughter! Take a look around the office, maybe there’s a teddy that you all believe brings you luck, a stapler which has been lost and found a ridiculous amount of times and has become some kind of a joke, or maybe there’s a giant rubber band ball which everyone has been adding too. Whatever seems appropriate for your office, use it. You may need to use paper clips to help secure your object to the top of the tree.

Your next stage would be to decorate your tree with a tinsel substitute, remember, this is an office Christmas tree. You could link paper clips to make shiny silver chains or join CD’s using rubber bands to make a giant shiny length of tinsel. Alternatively, cut sticky strips from Post-it Notes to make paper chains (this works best with various different coloured Post-it Notes). Drape your tinsel substitutes around the tree making sure to evenly cover the tree.

Using paper clips or tape, hang various office products from your tree as bauble substitutes. Use items such as staple removers, pens, staple strips, rubber stamps, glue sticks, you get the idea. You could even go all out there and throw on some shredded paper or hole punch confetti as artificial snow.

Last but not least stick some pressies under the tree. Maybe you could organise some kind of secret Santa where everyone picks a name out of a hat and buys a present (up to a certain value) for that person. Your tree is now complete – enjoy!