To finale our Avery Green Office Week theme, we have been given access to a range of office survey results which we at Office 365 found fascinating! As inspiration to make those vital changes to the way your office is run, we thought we’d share these shocking findings!

A OnePoll survey of 1,000 office workers, commissioned as part of Green Office Week, has revealed that over eighty percent of individuals in the UK would like to see the businesses they work for do more for the environment! So despite employee backing, many businesses are still dragging their feet in terms of eco-friendliness, even though it would in fact save them a penny or two!

Despite the increasing importance for companies and organisations to adopt green policies, forty percent of office workers would still not rate their company as environmentally-friendly and less than thirty percent feel they are encouraged to implement green practices at work.

Two of the biggest factors which hold businesses back are not having anyone specifically allocated to environmental issues (34%) and a lack of specialist green facilities and equipment (33%). Being too busy and lacking the time to be green was also a common complaint with nearly twenty percent of individuals highlighting that it has an impact on their environmental efforts. Despite this, over sixty percent said they would be happier if their workplace was seen to be more environmentally-friendly. To employ someone to take care of your environmental impact, or to assign the job to existing staff would not be hugely costly and in all fact would save your money in the long run! Aside from this, to be able to market your company and one which runs in an economical and environmentally friendly way is actually a big selling point; you could find your business increasing once your spread the word!

The survey also revealed that small businesses are lagging behind larger organisations when it comes to encouraging green practices. Individuals working at companies with more than 250 employees say they are twice as likely (40%) to be encouraged to be green at work than employees at smaller companies (21%), this is despite the cost-saving and efficiency benefits on offer to businesses adopting greener working practices.

The survey found many interesting facts such as 41% of individuals admitted to needlessly throwing away paper, 39% printed things that do not need to be printed and 22% leave electrical devices on standby. The aim of the Green Office Week is to encourage and empower individuals across the UK to make these small, easy and practical changes to their daily work routine.

During the week we have discovered some of the innovative solutions which can help us all to be greener at work. We highly recommend Avery Recycled Labels and Recycled Dividers, the Avery DTR Eco desktop accessory range and unique BlockOUT™ Labels which allow files, envelopes, and packaging to be re-used rather than thrown away! Right now we have most of these products on a BOGOF offer or 3-for-2, so take advantage while stocks last!

For more help or information, call a member of our team on 0870 766 1624 or email us at info@office365.co.uk.

This week is Avery’s Green Office Week which means we will be bringing you a range of useful tips helping you to make your daily processes more economical! It may seem like effort to change the way you run your business; however you’d be surprised at how simple these changes are, and quite how much money they’ll help you save! Just think of your bulging wallet!

We advise that you organise a staff meeting to advise your employees of your intentions and how you plan to improve the way you use energy in the workplace. Encourage your staff to take measures to reduce consumption in simple ways such as ensuring lights are turned off in areas that are not in use or so make sure that PCs, screens, copiers, peripherals and other machinery which is not in use, is also switched off. Even making the tiny move from switching machines off at night, instead of left on standby, will make a substantial difference.

Top Tips From Avery

Enable the standby mode on printers and photocopiers, turn off machines at the end of every day – or put them on a 7 day timer switch to make it automatic.

Make sure your heating and air-conditioning systems are not competing with one another. Better still, switch them off, open the window and get some fresh air in!

Turn off mobile phone chargers as soon as the phone has charged and unplug the charger – it also saves the battery life of the phone (something many of us are unaware of!)

Assess how much energy is being used when the building is empty compared to when in use – it may surprise you! Then you can address the elements that can be changed at weekends etc.

A little tip from us too; why not switch from your standard labels to our Avery label range? You’ll not only be doing your bit to save the planet, but you’ll also enjoy our fantastic BOGOF offer! We have an extensive selection of QuickPeel labels available that are recommended for DL size envelopes and come in packs of 100, these are available with the Buy One Get One Free Deal. We also have QuickPeel laser address labels and BlockOut laser labels available on the same deal! Simply look out for labels with BOGOF in their title. Please note however, the offer ends on June 30^th 2013, so hurry while stocks last‼

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.

You can never have too many pens! How is it they all go walkabouts? It’s almost as if they have a mind of their own?! Every so often I buy a pack of 20 ball point pens for the house, and sure enough, with a few months, every single one of them has disappeared…completely! I ask the children, “girls, can you get me a pen?” and every time the reply is the same; “I haven’t got one mum”. After routing through my eldest’s school back just this week and finding a mouldy sandwich, homework and school worksheets screwed up at the bottom of her bag, torn workbooks, and about 15 books she decided to bring in from home I felt utterly swamped. I can barely keep on top of my own commitments, let alone make sure she keeps on top of hers! It turns out she’s being borrowing stationery from friends, as she’s lost all hers. I work for a stationery supply company for goodness sake, this shouldn’t be happening! Like a said, pens have a mind of their own; their clearly up and wondering out of her pencil case, just as they do in our home.

Offices have the same problem, and I’ll be damned if we’re the only household who have this problem! Everyone loses their pens and so I’ve come to the conclusion that we should all give up buying expensive ones, and instead, settle for pens which feel nice to write with and are cheap as chips! And as usual here at the Office 365 blog page, we’ve found just the thing!

These 5 Star Blue Medium Tip Ball Pen’s are perfect!

• Medium Point
• Clear barrel
• 1mm Tip
• 0.3mm line width
• Blue
• Pack 50
• RRP £10.65 – Our price just £2.71 inc VAT‼

5 Star are THE number 1 budget brand, perfect for those items that don’t need to cost the earth to achieve something functional. Whatever the budget, 5 Star products are affordable and with over 1,200 products to choose from, you’re bound to find the item that you’re looking for! For nearly 20 years now, they have been leading the market with their choice of value options, plus their outstanding quality is very surprising considering the money you save!

• They are quality products
• They are a UK Based company
• They are affordable!
• Over 22,000 products!

It’s now the end of February and our children are all enjoying their half terms (while we struggle to fit in our work commitments around them!). We’re fully aware that their trainers are too small and their pencil case missing essential supplies and realise that this weekend will be our last chance to get them equipped to return to school. And can you imagine it; hundreds or more panicked parents all shopping for their children’s supplies on the very same day, it would be hell on earth! Online shopping is always the way forward, and when it comes to stationery, you need look no further than Office 365!

We provide office supplies and stationery to more than 50,000 customers, from government departments, public companies to small home office businesses. We even supplies products to individuals like yourselves, simply looking to stock up your home and school essentials! Our selection shocks all, covering cleaning and janitorial supplies, mops, vacuum cleaners, cleaning products and soaps, teas, coffees, snacks and sweets! We sell machinery such as printers and scanners, shredders and copiers, along with supplies such as ink cartridges, ribbons, shredder oil and binding supplies. All of our customers are important to us and receive the lowest possible prices on the UK web, guaranteed!

However sometimes we like to take it that one step further, reducing our already low prices to bring you special offers! At the moment we have a fantastic special offer on an essential which is very beneficial to your children’s education, and study, particularly with approaching exams! Our Staedtler Textsurfer Classic Highligters featured are a colourful pencil case filler you simply cannot refuse!

• Highlighter with large ink reservoir for extra-long highlighting performance
• Inkjet safe – all colours do not smudge inkjet print-outs
• Lightfast pigment ink
• Fast drying
• Contains three yellow and one each of pink, orange, violet, blue and green
• Line width: 2.5-4.7mm
• Assorted
• Wallet of 8 (6 + 2 FREE‼)
• RRP – £10.36 – Our price – Just £5.36 inc VAT!

With offers like this, you simply cannot refuse, plus if you bulk your order to £40, well deliver it to you free, NEXT DAY (orders before 4pm weekdays only)! Simply add to cart and proceed to checkout, unless of course you’d like to continue shopping. If you need any help or assistance at all, please feel free to call our friendly team on 0870 766 1624 and we’ll be more than happy to help.

At Office 365 we pride ourselves on our many services we offer making the complete ordering process easy, fast and stress free with us. We have a huge variety of stationery and office supplies available to both businesses and individuals alike with products such as office electronics and their consumables, furniture, desktop accessories, stationery as well as cleaning and catering supplies. We offer a price match guarantee which means if you find any of our products elsewhere for cheaper, we will match that price! Many of our customers are schools, NHS trusts, GP’s, government departments and locals government organisations, and we understand that when ordering for a company such as this, different procedures must be complied with, which is why we allow for purchase orders to be faxed over where necessary!

Many of our customers find that we offer an unbeatable service in terms of delivery and price and so prefer to order their item in bulk so that it lasts the entire office for a year. We take great pleasure in offering a bulk order service where we are able to give you a quote where products are ordered in larger volumes. Here you can either add the item to your basket and then select ‘get a quote’, or you can call our team on 0870 766 1624 where a member of our team will be more than happy to help.

We offer the secure Mastercard Worldwide payment service which is unbeatable in terms of security and peace of mind and accepts cards such as Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express and Solo. However if you prefer, we even offer the ability to pay via PayPal now! We prefer you to place orders online, however if for whatever reason you need to speak to our team, our lines are open from 9:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, or alternatively you can contact us via our email address info@office365.co.uk where we will also be able to help you.

If you order before 4pm, thanks to our dedicated ordering process, you will receive your items for next day delivery! The process is carried out in a fully automated pick and pack warehouse to ensure that we can deliver your most popular items within 24 hours, however if your item is urgent, we do suggest that you call to check stock!

Finally, we pride ourselves on being an environmentally aware company and offer our customers a great variety of Green Products which are recycled and recyclable! We also offer a variety of Breast Cancer Awareness products which when purchased donates money directly to Breast Cancer research! Our entire order process has been designed to have as minimal affect as possible on the environment from efficient logistics and packaging solutions to electronic invoicing to our ability to source the best environmentally friendly products for our customers. You will find that our Blog features various environmentally friendly articles offering advice on our green products and how your office can be green. However if you can help us be more eco friendly, we’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch!

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.

From all of us here at Office 365, we’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! This will be the last blog from me to you, until next year, but what a year we’ve had this year! After re-launching our site, we’ve been dedicated to giving each and everyone one of our products their own little write up so that our customers have all the information they need at their finger tips. Of course this is an exceptionally long task and it is not yet complete, however you will already be enjoying the new easier to navigate site and as ever would love to hear your feedback.

Today is your absolute last chance to order from us for delivery before Christmas, however we absolutely must stress that for all important, urgent orders, please call our team on 0870 766 1624 to check stock availability; we absolutely hate to disappoint our customers! If you’re a first time buyer at Office 365, we’re offering you a very festive 10% of your order, plus for all our customers, if your order comes to more than £40, we’ll give you free, super fast, delivery!

Hurry, while stocks last, we’re giving you tonnes of tasty treats! Until December 30^th we’re giving away these chocolatey treats free, on all orders over £60! They’d make perfect festive treats around the office, or alternatively, take them home to fill your children’s stockings! This is just our way of saying thank you for sticking with us, through site re-launch and all!

Speaking of Christmas, we have so many great stocking filler ideas here! From calculators to pencil sharpeners, staplers and hole punches, you can even find a fantastic assortment of artist & graphic supplies! Is the recipient and organised stationery fiend or maybe they’re the arts and crafts type? We have chocolate and sweets, Christmassy biscuits and more so that you can give those tasty festive treats, these are also popular for boosting morale to those working in the office over the Christmas period! Fill their stockings with erasers and correction fluid, tapes, pens and pencils; when one door opens so do many more! Within pens you’ll find those fancy types in chrome, metal and gold, highlighters in wallets and desk sets, fineliners  for kids and more! Our snazzy gel pens are great for kids who want to accessorise their pencil cases with the coolest stationery, but there’s so many more, just come along and see for yourselves!

So a very Merry Christmas from us all here and a Happy New Year, when our site will be complete with an abundance of information on all of your favourite products! Remember to call for urgent requirements and remember to tell us what your little ones thought of their Santa treats!

We have just 10 days to go before Christmas, don’t you think it’s time you get into action! Those ideas you’ve been planning, now’s the time to put them into motion. Many people use Office 365 are their go to for Christmas presents; as the cheapest online office and stationary retailer (backed up with our price match guarantee), we have a huge assortment of different products which are not just aimed at offices.

We have a great selection of surprising items such as artists supplies; pastels, watercolours, organisers, headphones, DAB radios, tins of biscuits, special chocolates and more. Many come to us to create their own Christmas hampers.

Here at Office 365 we have all the tools you could need to make a stylish, exciting and fun Christmas hamper for just about anyone! Simply follow the steps below.

1)      Choose your box – We have so many different boxes to choose from here, in various strengths and sizes. All you have to do is pick the most appropriate size and strength for your Christmas hamper.

2)      Case sealing tape – Now that you have your box, you must seal the bottom for protection. You may be packing some heavy items into your box, so make sure you apply appropriate tape to add strength and durability.

3)      Find your protective foam filling – Choosing a loose filling such as this one means that the recipient can rummage around in the box, easily retrieving whatever gifts lye hidden inside! You know that your purchases are safe and well hidden too!

4)      Choose your gifts! – Now for the fun part, you can have your own bit of fun, sifting through our site choosing yourself some colourful little treats and surprises for the recipient.

Popular hamper choices include mechanical pencils, electric pencil sharpeners, chocolate biscuits, good tea, correction fluid, highlighter pens and felt tipped pens, diaries, calendars, staplers, chocolates, printer cartridges and so much more! Take a look through our site; you may well be pleasantly surprised at our staggering selection of everyday items and fabulous gifts!

Remember, right now for first time customers, we’re offering a generous 10% off their orders! And then to add that further little treat, we’d also like to throw in some freebies. Until the 30^th December, we’re giving away free chocolates for all orders over £60!

At Office 365 we have an extensive selection of hole punches which have been created for a number of different markets; the school sector, the home sector, the office sector and the heavy duty sector. There’s no doubting the obvious need we have for hole punches within these environments; as long as we have paper we will file, and as long as we file, we’ll need hole punches.

The clue is in the name; a hole punch is used to punch holes in paper. By making these holes you are then creating a file-able document – you could insert it into a ring binder, presentation binder or lever arch file, or you could insert treasury tags to fasten the documents together that way.

Some hole punches offer variable hole positions so that you can adapt the positioning to suit your filing method. As US and UK hole placements vary, sometimes it may be a necessity to have a punch which can cope with both demands. You will find that we have a selection of adjustable hole punches here at Office 365, but of course, you will pay a little more for the luxury.

When using heavy duty hole punches, you will rely on your punch to perforate large volumes of paper at one time. A machine that can cope with say 150 – 250 sheets at a time will need to be built to last. An all metal construction and steel sharpened dies, plus a nice big guarantee are what you can expect. When you’re paying prices like these you expect quality, and when after years of unforgiving use, you need to replace the cutters, dies or clamping discs; you’d rather not folk out for an entire new punch, and who can blame you?! Here at Office 365 you’ll find that we have a selection of heavier duty models which allow for part replacements, plus we even have their spare parts!

But who can forget the standard hole punch? Used in schools and home offices and even at individual desks in the office, these cheap punches ensure basic daily use at a price you could afford with pocket money! The selection here is vast with a staggering variety of brands and extras such as paper guides to line up the paper, nameplates for personalisation in school and offices environments and low effort handles for ease of use.

The list goes on to cover single hole punches which are often used to punch tickets, to make confetti and other paper crafts. They are also useful for when only one binding material is being used. For example, one punched hole in the top left corner will allow a treasury tag to be inserted into the top corner. This will then create a collation of papers which can be turned right over. Our selection of single hole punches are highly affordable in all instances!

With so many other options available to you here; two hole punches, 4 hole punches and long handled hole punches – there’s no wonder we’re the UK’s number one online stationery retailer! Our service is completed with next day delivery, free delivery on orders over £40, fast online ordering and a friendly customer service team who are always on the other end of the phone (or e-mail) happy to help. 0870 766 1624