Workplace Blog

Google Certified Shop

Posted on January 12, 2015

Here at The Workplace Depot we are proud to announce that we have become a Google Certified Shop! Being a Google Certified Shop means that our customers can shop with us confidently and are safe with the knowledge that we as a business will provide the best customer service and reliable dispatch as we possibly can. Once you arrive on our website, you’ll see the added certified shop badge, if you click this you can see our overall rating as a business; unique, historic buyers have rated us on their own experiences. You can also see that you are protected on your purchases and even verify us, to make sure we are who we say we are and do what we say we do - you no longer just have to take my word for it! To become a Google Certified Shop, as a company you need to meet the following metrics to show that you can offer an ongoing, high quality shopping experience: Have a high percentage of orders with quick response and delivery times. Have a low average f...

Rejuvenating Your Workforce in 2015!

Posted on January 09, 2015

It’s easy for us to say we are going to do things differently in the New Year, whether that’s in our personal lives or at work – if we actually make these changes or not is a whole other story however! Having said this, we thought we would try our best to offer you some valuable advice, from one business to another, about how to revamp your organisation for 2015 with some steps that we are currently trying out ourselves. There are a number of things you can take into consideration when searching for innovation in the workplace, such as motivating and encouraging employees to have more of a say in their departments; make sure your staff are aware that they are actually paid to think! We are going to cover a few things from ensuring you have a motivated workforce, to having a fresh and friendly working environment for your staff this year. Encouraging Employees Inspiring ideas from your employees through implementing systems that make it easier to com...

Happy New Year 2015!

Posted on December 31, 2014

New Year’s Eve is one of those nights where we all get together and reminisce on the year gone by; have we achieved all we wanted to? Where do we see ourselves this time next year? And of course, what are our New Year’s resolutions? Depending on where you are in the world, whether you are watching a firework display, out dancing the night away, or having a quiet night in with family and friends, New Year’s Eve gives us all the chance for a fresh start! If you are lucky enough to be travelling or on holiday when the clock strikes midnight this year (or should I say next year) will you be in one of the most popular places to spend New Year’s Eve in the world? After browsing the Internet, we found some of the most fantastic places to visit at this time of year, including: The Northern Lights – Reykjavik, Iceland ...

Top Christmas Carols

Posted on December 22, 2014

So we are nearly there, the countdown is nearly over, only a few days left until the big fat fellow comes down our chimneys and leaves us presents. We should be getting to the point where children should be finishing off at school and the adults should be winding down at work and if you’re lucky, not returning until the new year. If this is the case, before the big day, why not consider going out singing some Christmas carols - get yourself into the Christmas spirit! If you have children, get them involved. It is one thing you don’t see enough of at this time of year. The only time I ever hear Christmas carols now is when I squeeze the “Press Here” button on the fury Rudolph decoration, so lets try and get more of us singing these traditional carols in public. Here at The Workplace Depot we thought that we would put together a list of some of our favourite carols to share and to also see how many people agree with us, these include: Jingle Bells ...

Fancy Dress for Christmas

Posted on December 19, 2014

Although perhaps not commonly associated with Christmas, fancy dress ideas for this season are becoming more creatively entertaining by the year! Whether it’s your workplace requesting you in fancy dress for the annual Christmas party, or you have been invited to a Christmas Eve knees up with the instruction to sport your best fancy dress ideas - we think there are some fantastic designs to win you the best dressed prize there! (We are talking more than Christmas jumpers here, but for more on those, read our previous blog post). You can be anything these days from a giant Gingerbread man, a Turkey, or even a walking, talking Christmas tree! ...

The History of the Advent Calendar

Posted on December 17, 2014

It's day 17 of our advent calendar and with only one week left until Christmas Eve, we thought this blog post would be most convenient for today! Considering we have been publishing our Christmas blogs every day throughout December in order to resemble an advent calendar, we thought it was only right to inform our readers about the history of this product - why do we buy these cardboard boxes with flappy doors for mystery treats every year? Well, sit back, relax and I will tell you… The origin of the advent calendar can be traced back to the 19th century, when religious families would draw a chalk line every day in December up until Christmas Eve. The first known advent calendar made by hand was in 1851; another early creation was the Adventcandle, a candle for the 24 days of Christmas, like todays advent wreath. The first printed advent calendar was supposedly published in 1908 by Later Lang in Germany, who was a participator of the printing of...

Infamous Christmas Quotes

Posted on December 14, 2014

It’s Day 14 of The Workplace Depot advent calendar and today we thought we would talk about Christmassy quotes and catchphrases! There are many quotes and phrases that we associate with Christmas, whether they are good, bad or just plain annoying; around this time of year they are certainly one thing – unavoidable! Most of the expressions that we exchange in daily conversations to each other at Christmas time are quite common and well-known, including: ‘Merry Christmas’, ‘Happy Holidays’, ‘It’s Christmas!’ Etc. Then of course, there are those not so pleasant quotes: ‘Bah, humbug!’ and ‘Scrooge’ - if you happen to be in the company of those that aren’t fans of Christmas, these can easily be applied! Having said this, there are hundreds of phrases connected with Christmas, but most are not necessarily spoken out by people to others, they are probably more likely to be found on greeting cards (or, of course, within a song). Here’s a couple we found...

Office Christmas Party Games

Posted on December 10, 2014

It’s getting in to the last few working weeks of the year and workplaces might be mellowing out for Christmas, so what better way to introduce some fun in to the office to get your staff in to the festive spirit. A couple of examples we have gathered should get everyone involved in some games, even using some of The Workplace Depot products! Two Spoons (Egg and Spoon Race with a Twist) Staff are separated in to two different teams, whilst a finish line is created at the opposite end of the room by hanging up some tape. Give the first player on each team a spoon with a Christmas bauble balanced on it, then on the word ‘go’ both players must run to the finish line and back again without the bauble dropping off. The race acts as a relay so the spoon/bauble is then p...

Secret Santa – Where Did it All Start?

Posted on December 09, 2014

Most associated with the Western part of the World, Secret Santa has become a tradition amongst large families and workplaces in order for everyone involved to receive a gift of an affordable value from one other person. Although it is not certain when or where Secret Santa originated from, it is thought that the original Secret Santa was Larry Dean Stewart – an American philanthropist who spent twenty years partaking in random acts of kindness for others throughout the year. Soon, the term was dubbed ‘Secret Santa’ as the craze caught on and thousands of people now join in this activity. Instead of buying the whole group of people you would normally buy individual presents for, writing your name on a piece of paper, folding it up and putting it in a hat along with whoever else was there created a Secret Santa; subsequently leaving you to only have to purchase for one person, resulting in less cost and less stress! (Depending on who you ended up with of course)...

The Rise of the Christmas Jumpers

Posted on December 07, 2014

A few years ago, patterned Christmas jumpers were definitely not seen as a fashion statement. From the moment Mark Darcy donned his Christmas reindeer jumper in Bridget Jones’s Diary, the look wasn't exactly supposed to portray a trendsetter. Little did we know however, a few years later the craze of Christmas jumpers would catch on in the UK; with fashionable chains such as Topshop and Urban Outfitters not only supplying a wide range of jumpers, but complete outfits with holly leaves and snowmen on them to meet the demands of thousands of people who were jumping on the bandwagon. It’s thought that the trend of the Christmas jumper stems from the younger generation adopting a more ‘thrift-store’ style of tight jeans, over-sized glasses and baggy t-shirts; therefore being able to pull off these quirky, patterned jumpers. Having said this, if stores such as Marks and Spencer were to sell the characterised clothes, it is thought that they wouldn't catch on as much as they ha...

Top 20 Christmas Songs – Getting you in the Christmas Spirit!

Posted on December 02, 2014

It's day 2 of The Workplace Depot Advent Calendar and we are treating you to a good one today! A recent article by The Independent has discovered that the classic tune by The Pogues – Fairytale of New York was voted as the nation’s favourite Christmas song of all time. The poll surveyed 2,000 adults, with 23% of them choosing the 1987 track as their favourite festive number, compared to just one in ten respondents choosing Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade. Fairytale of New York has been persistently popular in the UK, debuting at Number 2 in the charts, to then be featured in the Top 20 every year since 2005. With the message of the song perhaps more relatable to Brits; that the real experience of Christmas is sometimes a tense mix of family, friends and alcohol, it’s no wo...

ALDI – Park a Little, Spend a Lot!

Posted on November 26, 2014

According to an article written earlier this year by the BBC, Aldi is now a household name and has ‘cracked the supermarket business.’ The bargain supermarket has achieved success through following five steps: basic store layout, selling unusual items, general ‘penny pinching’, satisfying middle-class shoppers and by ultimately being in the right place at the right time. Aldi’s huge growth overlapped with the UK recession around 2007 and with their trademark cheap price, shoppers are likening to lower cost supermarkets in order to reduce their outgoings. Unfortunately, shopping at these smaller retail outlets such as Aldi are actually becoming more expensive than if you decided to do your weekly shop at Waitrose. Last week, our company director was issued with a charge to pay £70 for parking thirty minutes longer than was supposedly suggested...