If someone said to you tape, what do you immediately think? Sellotape? When your jotting down your shopping list what is it you write, sticky tape or Sellotape? The answer is of course Sellotape. A unanimous household name, Sellotape has earned its status as Britain’s number 1 tape with its 70 committed years to serving the planet with a decent adhesive tape. In fact, the name has become so big that you will even find it in the dictionary!

Having done so well, Sellotape obviously strives to stay ahead as they now have many close competitors. So the brand have expanded their range to cover all areas of the sticky tape market so that whatever it is the customer is looking for, Sellotape have a solution.

My latest find is the Sellotape Packing Tape which surely brought a smile to my face, as it would many others I’m sure. Yes, there are plenty of packing tapes on the market; however what is it that we use packing tape for? The answer is of course packing boxes, moving house and so on. In this scenario we expect perfection; the last thing you want when moving house is for the bottoms of all the boxes to collapse, the whole ordeal is costly enough without having to replace all of your belongings, not to mention the stress which we could do without at this time!

Personally I have found this a very happy find as I will be moving house myself in 5 weeks time and have had all sorts of stressful and negative thought entering my head. I have to say collapsing boxes was one of them. However I feel that if I use the very much respected and trusted Sellotape, then my boxes stand a better chance of holding. The makers of Sellotape would surely not want to risk their good name by providing a sub standard tape after all these years, so I think this may just be the answer!

Take a look at the Sellotape Packing Tape above;

• General purpose economy grade clear and buff polypropylene tapes
• Ideal for all office and warehouse packaging needs
• Can be used in all hand case sealers which take up to 50mm wide tape
• Size: 48mm x 50m
• Clear
• Packed 6
• Just £11.16! (Saving £3.74 on the RRP!)

Sellotape has ISO9000 standard manufacturing plants in the UK and New Zealand, with products sold in many countries across the globe. The Sellotape Company is owned by Henkel Consumer Adhesives, which is part of the largest adhesive company in the world! As a brand leader in the UK, Sellotape won Superbrands’ Most Trustworthy Brand Award in 2003, beating the likes of Rolls Royce!

The Green Bit

At Sellotape, tape is made using the Hot-Melt technique because they believe that this method produces less waste and is more environmentally friendly. Any solvent used to make the release coating is destroyed in a thermal oxidiser which ensures that no dangerous or harmful gases are released into the atmosphere. In the process of converting any harmful gases into clean air, heat is produced from the thermal oxidiser. This heat is used to power the drying oven. This ensures that the process is not only very environmentally friendly but efficient.

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

There are many working environments that deal with deliveries, outgoing post, packaging and so on. This is particularly true for warehouses and factories, however most businesses have a post room or mailroom that deal with outgoing mail daily. If your company are wholesalers or internet based retail companies, then the main objective of your business is to send out orders. In order to do so you’ll need the right materials and equipment. One of the vital products you’ll need to consider if the items you’re sending are of a delicate nature is labels. It is your responsibility as the supplier to make sure that your packages are sent out with care and clearly labelled so that the delivery person or company are aware of how to treat the package. Then, should there be any damage to the parcel when it arrives with the customer, you can seek responsibility from the courier, rather than incurring costs yourself, as you clearly advised them that the item was fragile. For the minimal price of handle with care labels and fragile labels, you can save yourself quite a penny!

Our Handle With Care Tape featured is ideal for mailrooms and warehouses sending out continuous fragile items.

• Text is ‘Handle with care’
• Printed polypropylene tapes
• Red wording on white tape
• Ideal for companies with quality systems such as ISO 9000
• Packed 6 rolls
• 50mm x 66m
• 25% off! – Just £14.55 for a pack of 6!

Simply peel off enough tape to reveal the text ‘Handle With Care’, or alternatively use the tape to secure your packaging closed whilst doubling as a warning message. Another similar alternative is our Fragile Tape featured to your left.

• Text is ‘Fragile’
• Printed polypropylene tapes
• Red text on white tape
• Ideal for companies with quality systems such as ISO 9000
• Packed 6 Rolls
• 50mm x 66m
• 55% off! – Just £8.78 for a pack of 6!

With just 43 days until Christmas left, people are beginning to become more frantic in organising themselves and their finances ready for the festive period. The shops are laden with decorations, Christmas paper, cards, mince pies, chocolates and every wrapper in sight has a jolly old picture of father Christmas on it. The local councils have all hung their decorations in the street and the music has begun. Oh boy, all this and it’s only November!

Well for those of you who are evidently more organised then I am, you may be needing rather a lot of sticky tape to wrap those pressies you’ve been stocking up on! Many of us take pride in the way we wrap our presents, buying quality paper, ribbons and tags. After all, a well wrapped and beautiful looking present is far more fun to receive and open! So if you’ve gone to all that trouble, then maybe you should consider using invisible tape to wrap your gift? Invisible tape works like magic. It disappears when applied, can be written on, typed on and doesn’t show on photocopies. So if you have beautiful paper, why spoil it with sticky tape lines, when you can seal the gift without any signs at all?

Take a look at our Scotch Tape selection at Office 365, we have a great selection of different sizes available, dispensers, plus repositionable varieties too. Take for example our Scotch Removable Magic Tape Featured. We all know how difficult it can be to wrap fiddly presents, large boxes and so on, particularly with only one pair of hands. That’s why Scotch designed this clever tape; if your tape sticks where you don’t want it too, simply lift it and position again!

• Scotch Magic Tape that can be removed cleanly once applied
• Can be repositioned again and again
• Invisible when applied can be written on
• Does not ghost when photocopied
• 19mm x 33m
• 1 roll per pack
• 29% off, now just £2.68 a roll!

The Green Bit

Scotch are a 3M brand, part of a company who have a long standing commitment to sustainable development through environmental protection, social responsibility and economic progress. For 3M, this means meeting the needs of society today, while respecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs. They recognise that the company’s long-term success springs from adopting and implementing the principles of sustainable development: stewardship to the environment, contributions to society, and to the creation of economic value and worth. At the same time, they recognise that only by continuing to be a viable and successful enterprise can they continue to be a positive contributor to sustainable development.

Continuous improvement is a vital component of the company’s environmental performance. 3M believes in setting aggressive corporate environmental goals and have been articulating their environmental objectives since the early 1990s. In 2005, 3M set a new group of goals for the period of 2005 to 2010. These are stretch goals that are built on 3M’s reductions achieved through 2005. The current goals, which are indexed to net sales, are as follows:

• Reduce Volatile Air Emissions by 25%
• Improve Energy Efficiency by 20%
• Reduce Waste by 20%
• Complete 800 Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) Projects

When you think of Glue, what brand springs to mind? No, this isn’t telepathy or some Derren Brown trick, its history, excellent branding and quality of product. That’s right, it’s Pritt…Just like vacuum equals Hoover, sticky tack equals Blu-Tac, sticky tape equals Sellotape, search engine equals Google, walking frame equals Zimmer, bubbly hot tub equals Jacuzzi, permanent marker equals Sharpie, ballpoint pen equals Biro, correction fluid equals Tipp-Ex; these are all example of generic trademarks earned through the products sheer excellence and user friendliness; these are all household names.

Pritt are no exception to this and have invented some truly remarkable solutions to our gluing and sticking adhesive demands. First invented in 1969, the Pritt Glue Stick took the world by storm! In fact, not only is Pritt a worldwide brand, but in March 2001, Pritt was literally launched as a “Universe-wide” brand! On March 17th 2001, and after rigorous daily use under zero-gravity and other extreme conditions of space, Pritt was officially awarded the exclusive seal of “Space Proof Quality”! However it’s not just the Pritt Stick which holds our hearts here at Office 365, we’ve rather fallen for the Pritt Glue-It too!

Take a look to the right and feast your eyes upon our Pritt Glue-It Roller Adhesive which boasts some pretty unbelievable qualities for simple ‘pencil case’ glue.

• New compact refillable roller system which fits neatly in the hand, with built-in retractable nib protector
• Available with permanent or re-stick-able cartridge
• Improved action for precision gluing
• (Link provided is for re-stick-able option)
• Highly precise and very convenient to apply
• Very clean: no mess, no smearing or running, a dry up is impossible
• Refillable – the economical solution for frequent users
• Enjoy 30% Off! – Now just £2.98!

Pritt (brought to us by the Henkel Corporation) celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2004, being an environmental and economic success with more than one billion units sold. Henkel obviously places particularly high priority on its ecological compatibility and product safety, especially as it is often used by children. Solvent-free, PVC-free and certified to comply with stringent EU child safety legislation, Pritt glue is the friendliest there is.

When it comes to tasks which involve the use of tapes and adhesive, you will find that each task has its own specific challenges and requirements. This is why at Office 365 we have a wide variety of different strength tapes with various different properties, and a whole selection of adhesives for all different forms of bonding and materials. With so many specific tasks out there that require specialist tapes and glues, you will often require something which has been tailored specifically for one duty. Our selection includes double sided tape for mounting paper and card products and in some cases plastic products. We have masking tape for artwork and decorating, clear tape for normal and heavy duty home and office use, invisible tape for optimum results, packing tape for warehouse use, packing and removals, printed tape for specific warnings, plus lane marking, cloth  and anti slip tape. We have top brands to choose from here, including the household name Sellotape, Scotch, Duck, Vibac, 3M, Uno and 5 Star.

With an equally impressive range of glues and adhesives, we have every task covered. So whether you’re looking for an adhesive product for home use, school use, office or specialist, we have what you’re looking for here. Choose from a variety including all purpose glues, latex glues, photo mounting sprays, plastic glue, spray adhesives and spray mounts, sticky fixers and dots, the age old glue stick, glue rollers, superglue, tack, glue remover, glue roller refills, glue pens, wood glue, industrial glue, instant adhesive glue, solvent free glue, adhesive cushion pads, washable glue, plus extreme glue which withstands pretty much anything! If you’re looking for reliability, there’s no better way to judge this, than by using them. Through use, everyone finds a particular brand they feel they can rely on, and here we have all the top, quality and reliable brands so that you can select the best products for your requirements. Choose from UHU, Unibond, Loctite, 5 Star, Copydex, 3M, Pritt, Sellotape, Uno, Blu-Tack and more. For recommendations for best quality glues and best priced glues, visit our Adhesives page where we’ve already tried and tested the brands and the products for you.

This Christmas let’s encourage and discover our children’s creative side. It is said that creativity is essentially a form of problem-solving, involving problems which there are no easy answers to and where popular or conventional responses just do not work. Creativity involves adaptability and flexibility of thought which are the same types of skills that numerous reports on education (e.g. the Carnegie Report, 1986) have suggested are crucial for students. By giving your children the freedom to express themselves through creativity is hugely beneficial to their evolving minds. One of the things we do in my house is collect rubbish. Yes that’s right, we collect rubbish! Old egg boxes, cereal boxes, pretty wrapping paper, toilet roll tubes, bottle tops; you get the idea. We have a great big plastic tub to store it all and every few days the box is out, the table is covered and my children are in their element making pencils pots, rockets and items which I’ll never understand. They absolutely love it. But other than the rubbish and possibly a lick of paint, it wouldn’t be possible without a glue stick. This activity is great at home and very common in schools. A child’s first few years at school is based mainly on play and creativity and of course building on their social skills. So whether you’re looking to facilitate their expression through creativity for your school or for your individual child, we can help you find the perfect glue sticks for school.

• Glues paper, card, labels and expanded styrofoam
• Clean, fast, strong and long-lasting
• Unique screw cap prevents drying out
• Non-toxic and solvent-free
• Glides smoothly
• Cold washable
• Ideal for school, home or office
• 25g
• 43% off
• 4g extra free (Oct-Dec 2010)

With 4g free, 43% off and the UHU brands renowned quality; this little glue stick would make the perfect stocking filler this Christmas.

The Green Bit

Environmental awareness and measures are applied to all areas, from product development and production processes to usage and disposal by consumers. At the same time UHU never loose sight of their own corporate values nor of current legal requirements.

UHU constantly improves conditions for the protection and health of their employees, the environment, their neighbourhood and their millions of consumers worldwide. In production processes, UHU‘s efforts far surpass that which is required.

We’re nearly there now, just 2 weeks to go before the magical day itself. But as my parents say, ‘Christmas doesn’t just happen you know’. It’s not just ‘Santa’ who puts those pressies under the tree (as I’m sure you all know); a lot of hard work goes into choosing those presents, finding the time to do so and of course wrapping them all up! Now I know it’s not all about the presents. In my house, that’s just the start of it; it’s the whole day itself, in fact the week before and the week after it too. Presents are just our way of showing love, appreciation and a fantastic way to start the Christmas day fun!!

With 2 weeks left, most of us (aside from myself *cringe*) will have pretty much finished the Christmas shopping and will just be left with a mountain of gifts to lovingly (or hurriedly) wrap. You will need to get organised and prepare yourself with plenty of packaging materials. Think – disguising obvious presents, think – protecting breakables, think – wrapping to perfection. Office 365 are your one stop shop for office and stationery supplies, but also exceed expectations when it comes to Christmas present wrapping materials too! One of the most important tools in the art of wrapping is of course sticky tape – you’d be surprised at how many people forget this useful household treasure. We have a huge selection of different sized boxes for disguising and protecting and for wrapping your items to perfection. For those extremely breakable items, don’t let them be ruined before they’ve even been opened, take a look at our bubble wrap supplies. A fantastic tip which comes in useful for me year after year is to keep your Christmas cards. That way, when it comes to gift tags, all you have to do is cut of the front of last year’s cards and apply tape or string so that they can be fastened to the present. Brilliant – simply write on the reverse. Lastly but not at all least, is wrapping paper. Go for the traditional look and let the labels do the work. Our selection of strong kraft paper is perfect for present wrapping, adding a touch of olden day charm and class to the stack under your tree. Either fasten with string & twine so that they recipient can re-use the paper, or if you’re in a hurry, stick it.

We’re not just here to provide our homes and businesses with office supplies; our range of stationery supplies is increasing by the day to incorporate more and more everyday items that we all could use.

Deck the halls with homemade treasures, fa la la la la, la la la la

Tis the season to be crafty, fa la la la la, la la la la.

No more glue spills on our apparel, Fa la la, la la la, la la la.

Time to make our Yule Tide greetings, Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Now is the time to get out your glue stick and start making your own Christmas cards. Every year 1 or 2 of the cards I receive has been hand made by the sender and means so much more to me! These are the cards which I treasure the most…the others are eventually cut up to make labels for the following years presents!  Have you considered making your own? You could even let your children loose on them and see what their little imaginations allow them to create. Alternatively, you could print off family pictures and stick them onto card to create little Christmas cards.

Another fun and festive idea would be to create your own Christmas decorations. You could get your hands on some coloured paper, cut it into strips and makes loops out of the strips to create a chain. You could even let your children colour funky designs onto plain paper and cut this into strips instead. Begin by gluing one end of the strip with a glue stick and press the other end of the strip onto the glued edge to bond. You will now have your first loop. Next, thread your second paper strip through the loop, gluing and attaching just like in the first step; you will now have to loops attached to each other. Follow these steps until you have a nice long chain!

There is so much you can do to make the build up to Christmas fun – but it all begins with a glue stick! Get yours here!

The beauty of Scotch tape is its magical abilities – there’s no other brand that can perform quite like it. This unique tape was invented in 1961 and has a distinctive matt and almost opaque finish. These frosted rolls of tape are very deceptive however, as when applied to paper, they disappear! It is this quality which makes Scotch magic tape so popular in the home and in the office. This world famous tape makes for the perfect tool in present wrapping but has many uses in the office environment. It can be written on with pencil, pen and felt tipped pens and markers; this exceptional tape even comes in permanent and re-stickable varieties! Because of its ability to accept being written on, Scotch tape provides a perfect alternative to labels. Use it for labelling absolutely anything around the home or the office – what a cheap alternative! Plus, when photocopying documents the tape will not be revealed or ‘ghost’ on the copy. Over time all tape eventually loses it’s ’stick’ and turns a lovely nicotine yellow – but not Scotch Magic Tape; this one resists drying out or turning any colour at all.

Featured to your right is our Scotch Magic Tape Refill 810 19mm x 33m, perfect for rejuvenating those useful Scotch tape dispensers.

• Highest quality tape available for the Office
• Low Noise tape that dispenses smoothly and quickly
• Invisible when applied can be written on
• Does not ghost when photocopied
• 19mm x 33m
• 1 roll per pack
• 30% off – now just £6.21!

Strange Scotch Tape Uses Revealed…

1. Has been used to bind chicken’s legs together when being weighed
2. Served as an anti-corrosive shield on the Goodyear blimp.
3. Has been used to seal cracks in the soft shells of fertilized pigeon and turkey eggs – which then actually hatched!
4. Has been used to attach labels to horses when being auctioned.
5. Has been known to temporarily repair cracks in ceilings
6. After the unfortunately event where a cow ate the resin-coated fabric on a plane’s rudder section, Scotch tape was used to repair the damaged area! It actually then went on to fly!