The test is between two brands, Rubbermaid and Charles Bentley. First off, I’d like to point out that I can personally recommend the Charles Bentley brand, as my own mop, bucket and wringer are made by the brand, although mine is an old fashioned cream metal variety, but that’s beside’s the point. The mop cleans, as it should, and the bucket holds water as it should and the winger squeezes off excess water as it should, job done, boxes ticked. It’s all pretty standard really. So we move onto customer responses and it seems we have had far more purchases of the Charles Bentley variety. Is this telling us something, or is it just that we have a larger variety within this range? Well considering there is only one option within the Rubbermaid brand, and this is a rather expensive wheeled variety, I think that answers the question!

The Rubbermaid Combo Bravo Mop Bucket and Wringer does have its place. This is a pretty decent bit of kit which would suit larger premises very well! Although not necessary in the home, this set would be ideal for hotels, large restaurants and so on. The wringer is more efficient than the standard variety which is great for speed and the bucket size means that you will not need to refresh the water constantly. Being wheeled it is easy to manoeuvre around reducing bending and carrying. For £87.37, it’s not cheap, but it is good!

Our Charles Bentley variety is available in both wheeled and standard options in a variety of colours. Their wheeled selection come in red, blue, green and yellow colours and are available for just £41.54, where as the non wheeled options are available in the same colours, however are just a fraction of the price at just £12.18. All products within the range have been reviewed well and are quoted as being strong and durable which is all you want really! Take a look at our selection of buckets with mop wringers and decide for yourself, but don’t forget to let us know you’re thoughts once you’ve tested it out!

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.

The rubber top pencil was invented in 1858 by a man named Hyman Lipman who developed the patent to attach erasers to pencils! From that day forth, not only was the squabbling eraser scenario solved, but also the lost eraser scenario! You made a mistake, you simply flipped you pencil over and erased your work, with precision!

But what would be your first choice for rubber tipped pencils? At Office 365 the first brand that springs to mind for quality pencils is Staedtler. Take a look at the Staedtler 110 Tradition HB Pencil With Eraser featured.

• Manufactured from farmed cedar wood, with a quality lead that ensures maximum point strength and slow wear!
• HB grade
• Eraser tipped
• Packed 12
• RRP £7.56 – Our price just £4.65‼

Staedtler are one of the world’s leading brands of writing, colouring and drawing instruments as well as modelling or polymer clays. Staedtler products are sure to become your favourite writing instrument which seems to be evident across the globe – the brand has registered trademarks in more than 100 countries worldwide!

The Green Bit

The protection of the environment, the consumer and the employee all hold a very high degree of importance in the Staedtler corporate philosophy. For this reason they place strong emphasis on a fully-integrated and uniform environmental protection programme. Each and every employee plays a part in living up to the special responsibility to our environment. Long before the emergence of the many eco-standards and environmental seals, they were already demonstrating their corporate responsibility through environmentally friendly processes and self-imposed eco-controlling.

Being an internationally active manufacturing company, environmental protection is something that Staedtler takes very seriously. For years, the company has been implementing numerous publicly recognised pollution control measures in the areas of waste treatment, reusable material sorting, raw material recycling and energy conservation – and not only at the head office in Nuernberg. Worldwide, top priority is given to a careful use of resources and an efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing process. When it comes to global ecology, Staedtler has gone one step further.

Try punching through a stack of 50 sheets with a standard hole punch. I’ve seen people (including myself) literally pushing down on these punches with all of their body weight, I’m talking feet off the ground! I’ve even seen people stamping on their hole punch in the vein hope that, that will make it work, but of course not. All that happens when you over work a standard hole punch, is holes are cut badly, ripped and torn, or that simply the first few sheets are punched and the remainder are just left in-printed. The other inevitable of course is worn out, blunt hole punch dies and broken contraptions altogether!

Heavy duty hole punches are the way forward, not only do they punch through larger quantities of paper, but they do it with ease and with no effort on your part. Their handles/levers can be compressed with such minimal effort; a small child could do it! And may we recommend the Rapid HDC150 heavy duty 2-hole hole punch. This product is in the mid range price bracket; it’s not budget, yet it’s not at the extreme end! Featuring:

• Strong ergonomic handle
• Paper centralising guide
• Built-in storage for replacement punching cutters and discs
• Neat transparent confetti drawer
• 5 year guarantee
• Capacity: 150 sheets of 80gsm paper!
• You save £60 on the RRP! Our price just £90.46!

It ticks all the boxes for anyone looking to punch through up to 150 sheets and even has quirky little extra’s. However if you’re looking for the absolute Don of all hole punches, and are willing to pay the hefty price tag, then the Rapesco 2160 Heavy Duty 2-Hole Punch is without a doubt, unbeatable. This machine can punch through 300 sheets of paper and comes with a 15 year guarantee! For those of you looking for something to meet the budget, then our 5 Star 2-Hole Heavy Duty Hole Punch will do just fine. However don’t take my work for it, take a look for yourself at our complete range of heavy duty hole punches available in many options including 4-hole, and from many leading brands.

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.

We’d like to know your thoughts on our new stationery site; how do you find the navigation, does the look please you, were you able to quickly find what you were looking for and how do you find out prices? I’ve already attempted to persuade the boss to ‘de-wonkyfi’ the text in the logo, but he seems to like it, so let’s not all overwhelm him with contradicting thoughts!

You could also take advantage of the situation and tell us what products you’d like to find on special offer! Although our site has changed, our ethics have not. You will still find a fantastic variety of environmentally friendly products, items which support charities and you will still find our price match policy. So if you ever find our prices cheaper anywhere else, let us know and we’ll match it! We also strive to make your lives easier, so if you’d like send us an official purchase order, we will of course accommodate. Ordering in bulk? Just let us know and we can certainly take a look at a lower price per unit for you, it all helps!

The Office 365 Relaunch has also brought to light our impressive additional services! So when you’re looking for a little more than office supplies, make us your first point of call. Maybe you’d like to advertise a new product or service with promotional gift items, or alternatively you’d like to offer your staff or clients personalised gift for Christmas or their yearly anniversary with the company. We have a large variety of printed promotional pens which will get your message across impressively! Finally you will also find that we have an extensive selection of corporate clothing and work wear for all areas of employment and many different environments.

We’ve only just gone live people, so from time to time you may find the odd ‘glitch’ in which case we ask for your patience and also your comments. If you’ve found something which need improving upon, or something indeed which is faulty, please get in touch with us on 0870 766 1624 or email techsupport@office365.co.uk.

Many thanks and welcome aboard!

To welcome you into the New Year we are introducing you to a smart little desk solution which will make mess and disorganisation a thing of the past. However we’re not just offering you a simple solution, we’re also giving you a very generous price reduction too! With a whopping 70% off our 5 Star desk tidies, you can’t say fairer than that! Tempted? Then read on, it gets better!

Featured to your right is our 5 Star Black 6 Compartment Desk Tidy, the perfect accompaniment to most any desk regardless of it style or design. This simple desk tidy will compliment all other desk accessories whilst providing the perfect storage solution for all your pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, pins, clips, fasteners, sticky tack, staples and so on. What’s more at this tiny price you can afford to put one on every desk in your premises!

• 6 compartment tubes
• Black
• 70% off!
• Now Just £1.15!
• Order 50+ units for further reductions!
• Order 35+ units for Free Delivery!
• Also available in red or blue options

You can of course complete the whole set in 5 Star’s discounted variety. Here at Office 365 you’ll find we also have black 5 Star letter trays (and the risers to accompany them), black 5 Star magazine racks, black 5 Star waste bins and so much more.

5 Star are our number one budget brand, the perfect option for those items which don’t necessarily need to be high end. Whatever the budget, 5 Star products are affordable and with over 1,200 products to choose from, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for! For 15 years they have been the leading brand for value options and for outstanding quality, pleasing customers every time. 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.

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.

Feel free of course to wait it out until the timing is more convenient, however if you wait until the end of December or the beginning of January, you may find yourself running from high street store to high street store frantically waving your hands in the air ready to throttle the next member of ‘Smiths’ who says “sorry, we’re all out”. Imagine trying to keep on top of all your appointments and commitments without a diary to jot it all down…not a pretty picture and very stressful I can tell you!

Worry not however, here at Office 365, you’ll find we have an exceptional choice of diaries to choose from. We do recommend however due to the time of year, that you phone to check stock before ordering, we have a reputation to uphold you see and hate to let our customers down.

Our cheap option (for the Christmas Scrooge’s out there) –

5 Star 2012 Day-to-Page A5 Diary

• Fully section sewn, 70gsm white wove paper
• Appointments every half-hour from 0800 to 1830
• Separate pages for Saturday and Sunday
• Colour matched ribbon marker
• Size: A5 210 x 148mm
• Black
• 88% off – Just £1.45

Our high quality option (for the budding Father Christmas’s) –

Collins Elite 2012 Compact Diary

• Collins Elite Executive 2012 Diary
• Day to Page
• Hourly Appointments
• Luxury padded ‘faux-leather’ diaries with a wiro binding that allows them to lie flat on the desk when open
• Each diary contains a number of added value features including: PVC business card pockets, pull-out year planners (current and future year), removable A-Z personal directory and notebook section, ziplock bag for loose receipts etc, a pen holder and ribbon markers
• Compact
• Size: 190 x 127mm
• Black
• 25% off – £15.58

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