Workplace Blog

Organisation Techniques to Assist the Chaotic

Posted on October 17, 2013

If you frequently feel a sense of despair when looking around your disorganised office, you are not alone. Chaotic offices are common, but they are very inefficient, increasing your stress and wasting your time searching for missing paperwork. It’s almost frightening how much paperwork can take over your life. But where should you start when you feel brave enough to start sorting it out? Clear your desk Keep your desk clear of things you aren’t working on at the moment. Fit enough drawers to cope with whatever you need to keep handy, and fit a filing unit beside, or underneath it. Position frequently used stationery where you can reach it from a sitting down position, and consider having a shelf fitted above the desk where you can place things that need to be done in the near future. Keep your stapler, pens, printer ink and other paraphernalia into a drawer, so they are not crowding your working space. Keep clutter minimal – items that are gathering dust have no place...

A "Bumper" Blog

Posted on October 10, 2013

We know the word bumper means something big, enormous, or extraordinarily large. Things are often sold in bumper packs, meaning you get more for your money. What about a bump on the head? Where does that come from? Where did the very clumsy Mr Bump get his name? In a very “countdown” style, here is an origins of words blog, looking at the fun and squidgy term: Bumper. The first use of the word bumper was in the mid seventeenth century as a description of a full glass. In approximately 1670, the term bumper was an adjective for a glass or goblet filled with wine or beer. If you had a full glass of wine or beer, you were likely to be wealthy and living comfortably at this time, possibly giving us the link to something bumper being excessive as we use it today. The use of bumper to denote a glass of beer or wine that was full to the brim is said to have developed into meaning a swelling of some sort in general. The commonly used phrase ...

Daylight Robbery - Would You Call 999 on These Bike Thieves?

Posted on October 09, 2013

With more and more statistics being released about the number of bike thefts in the UK and the awareness of bike thieves operating around the country growing, you would think by now that people know how important it is, when using a bike, to lock it up safely and securely. Well, that may not be the case as the number of bikes being stolen in the UK is still high, with 7800 bikes reported stolen in May this year. Cambridgeshire Police took it upon themselves to shock people into securing their bikes more effectively. There were 2100 bikes were stolen in Cambridge in the last year. In an attempt to encourage people to lock up their bikes, Cambridgeshire Police hosted a small stunt that was captured on the city’s CCTV. Four actors were sent into the busy centre of Cambridge and there they were captured on CCTV stealing four bikes. The video clip shows a number of b...

The Importance of a Health & Safety Audit

Posted on October 08, 2013

The health and safety needs of a small or large business can change over time and it is important that audits are carried out on a regular basis. This will ensure the continued welfare, health and safety of employees within an organisation, via the systematic appraisal of on-site procedures and processes. An audit will find specific areas in which improvements need to be made for the benefit of a business and its employees, and help companies to comply with legal duties and promote wellbeing. What is a health and safety audit? An audit is a methodical, independent and documented assessment of a business’ system and processes, in which it is measured against regulated criteria to make sure health and safety standards are being upheld. Organisations should have a management system in place to ensure safety processes continue to be maintained. What are the aims of an audit? Though businesses differ in size and the industries in which they operate – for exa...

DIY Fails

Posted on October 04, 2013

A member of our web team this week spotted this crazy contraption whilst out and about in Bingham. It might not be easy to tell what it is at first glance, but we believe it to be a home-made, DIY, make-shift retractable parking post. Hinged parking posts are very useful in situations where you need to control the passing of traffic or control the availability of specific parking spaces. They allow the owner to block or allow cars as necessary. If you wish to prohibit the access of unwanted vehicles, then you can do so by installing a parking post which will block the way. Similarly, pedestrians walking near the closed roadway have extra protection from motor vehicles when a parking post is in place. Being fitted with a hinge, the retractable parking post can be folded down flat and therefore allowing cars to pass freely. If you think you need a parking post, why not copy the idea of the example above and make your own by following these not so simple steps. 1. Dig...

Coolest Work Uniforms

Posted on October 01, 2013

What is it that makes a uniform look cool? Is it the image attached to or the person in that uniform? Or is it pure styling and colour? Uniforms look cool when they are well-designed, neatly-pressed, and worn by smart people. They project a better image of the organisation that's using them, and also obviate the necessity of having to choose a different outfit for work every day. Big businesses like airlines and restaurant chains usually get their uniforms designed from stylists. The type and style of the uniform depend upon the nature of work that they will be worn for. Sports uniforms can be flashy and allow free movement of the body. Medical or military uniforms can look more traditional with their specific colours. In order to look cool, a uniform just has to ... well, look cool! Here are some of the coolest uniforms ever worn. 1. Royal Air Force Pilot's Coverall ...

Never Mind the Bollards

Posted on September 27, 2013

You may have heard the news story about the gentleman who, in order to brighten up his day, decided to climb inside a traffic bollard and then inevitably got stuck inside, resulting in the police being called to help pull the man out of the bollard. After this strange occurrence, we would like to take a closer look at bollards and discover that there is more to the humble bollard than meets the eye. Bollards of all shapes and sizes line our streets up and down the country and have become an overlooked feature of society and of the urban landscape. They are used to separate pathways, divide roads and as traffic calming measures in city centres. But a bollard is not chosen solely because of its purpose, there are many other considerations that concern the urban surroundings which determine why and where a bollard is used. ...

The Emmys 2013

Posted on September 25, 2013

This weekend saw the ceremony of the 65th annual Primetime Emmy awards take place in Los Angeles. The award ceremony was full of the obligatory tears and thrills of acceptance speeches, some dodgy red carpet fashions and the trying-to-look-pleased faces of the losing nominees making a classic American award ceremony. The Emmys started out as a regional ceremony that commended works of television from just the Los Angeles area. In 1950, the awards went nation-wide and were broadcast to television networks all over the USA. The award itself is a golden figure of a winged woman, and after much deliberation the statuette was given the name “Emmy”. There were a number of famous names amongst this year’s winners. The American crime drama Breaking Bad picked up the award for best drama series, and actress Anna Gunn was awarded best supporting actress for her role in the series. The honour of receiving best actor went to Jeff Daniels for his role as TV anchor Will McAvoy in the p...

When a Mirror isn't Just a Mirror

Posted on September 24, 2013

As well as using mirrors for practical and safety reasons, for example in shops as security to help deter shop lifters and on roads to help drivers check their blind spots, there are a variety of fun things you can do with just a humble mirror. 1. You can summon up evil spirits. There is a well-known children’s "game" of summoning the evil spirit of a woman called Mary by staring into the bathroom mirror and chanting “Bloody Mary” three times over. The folklore behind this game is supposed to come from Mary I, Queen of England who was given the nickname of Bloody Mary due to her persecution of Protestants during her reign. Ok, so, it isn’t as if we believe in ghost stories, but maybe think twice before summoning any evil entities. ...

Warehouse Organization Tips

Posted on September 19, 2013

Regardless of what type of business you operate, chances are you already have a warehouse or storage area where products are being housed, organized and prepared for their trip to buyers and clients. If you want to make the process more streamlined and effective, you should focus on every aspect of it for maximum efficiency and control. This means you must go through a number of possible solutions that boost your productivity toward that goal. The following tips are aimed toward giving you that edge: Upkeep You should check on your warehouse on a regular basis so you can review its operations. If you have kept it well-organized in the beginning, this may not always be the case with the changing standards that flow into new requirements. It would be a good idea to work with a checklist for your manager so you'll know what's happening. Prioritizing by Sellers You should place the higher volume items closer to your shipping area so they can be moved with...

How Would You Spend a £10 Million Marketing Budget?

Posted on September 18, 2013

For most companies £1 million would be a dream marketing budget, so what would you do with £10 million at your disposal? Would you plump for all-out media saturation and leave no promotional stone unturned or would you blow it all on hiring Peter Jackson to direct one outrageously elaborate advert? The mind boggles. Here are just some of our ideas! Hire the Big Kahunas It’s amazing what a famous face can do for sales and with a budget of £10 million, you could afford to hire an entire ensemble. Back in 2006, Marks and Spencer’s went for a whole host of famous faces including the incredible vocal talents of Dame Shirley Bassey for their Christmas campaign. Lavish and sexy, the advert could have leaped right out of a James Bond film and cost as much (in the region of £2 million). Whether you go for an entire cast or one legendary figure, you better hope you hire appropriately. (Who ever thought beer and a prune-like Jean Claude Van Damme was a good match?...) Pl...

Very Good Service at The Workplace Depot

Posted on September 17, 2013

The Workplace Depot is delighted to be featured on the Very Good Service website. The website specialises in recognising and reviewing companies that have won awards for their services and products in a variety of different categories from shopping to finance, helping people to locate the very best companies in the UK for what they are looking for. The Workplace Depot is featured as the winner of the 2013 Online Retail Award. By acknowledging this accolade and placing us amongst a variety of other companies and businesses on the website that also offer great services. Other brands included as a part of this website are John Lewis, Pets at Home and amazon.co.uk. The Workplace Depot is highlighted on their “small biz services” page as providing very good service as a small business. On this page The Workplace Depot is listed alongside other brands such as Sage and Vodafone Small Business. We hope this will increase our already high level of trust and credibility amo...