So you LOVE Stationery that much?? why not join a club then!!!

Its true....there are people out there who loooooove stationery and office supplies so much that its their actual hobby.
It might be a fascination with all things pens or the fact that they collect paperclips, or maybe that they simply adore the smell of C4 envelopes....well whatever your office products fetish might be then now you can share your new passion with other like minded enthusiasts who not only have an online twitter presence but also meet socially on a regular basis to talk about stationery, look at stationery and even swap stationery - in fact last weekend saw the summer 'stationery club' picnic in Kensington Gardens.

The truth is we at Officeprofiles also love stationery (there it is we confessed!!!) and its great to see we are not alone.

Stationery club twitter page

Stationery club blog

10 great ways to keep office costs down

And it’s not all about buying stationery supplies!

Sustainability, green footprints, Eco friendly energy and fair trade purchasing – it can all get a little confusing can’t it? We are all supposed to be making strides to improve our Companies carbine footprints but how can we make sure we are not taking our eyes off the ball in one area whilst we concentrate on another? – It’s not always easy.

The team here at Officeprofiles have put together a few ideas and tips to help businesses both large and small to ‘look in the right places’ to begin to lower those areas that impact our global impact.

1)      Lead by Example

Before you can ask others to change their behaviour it’s only fair to make sure the way you conduct your environmental initiatives are correct and best practice for your office; make the right steps habit rather than effort – office workers should then naturally want to follow your carbon friendly example.

2)      Have an Environmental Champion in your office

Most offices will have staff who need a little more encouragement in green areas but also those members of staff who really embrace the Eco initiatives, they will go out of their way to change their practices, they will automatically take the greener route and in many cases they will want to be seen to be the greener working staff member. Use these people; ask them to help you make green working the norm and let others see that its required of them – perhaps they can write the office environmental newsletter, order the recycled printer cartridges, make sure used A4 copier paper and supplies get recycled rather than thrown out, the list can go on and on…

3)      Go Green when you Go!!

Green travel is one of the best ways to get people involved, encourage staff to car share, show bus timetables on your office noticeboard – start a ‘cycle to work scheme’ (this gives staff the chance to buy a brand new bike and get the tax off through a government backed scheme) – also consider teleconferencing when possible to avoid travel.

4)      Buy green office supplies and machines

(We like this one!!) – printer cartridges, furniture, pens, files, copier paper…….the list goes on and on – you will find most modern office supplies and stationery companies will now have specific Green products catalogue to give Eco shoppers a selection of full recycled, part recycled and even Fair Trade products – there are now literally thousands of green products for the office available.

5)      Recycle everything you possibly can

You can now get recycle bins for; paper, printer cartridges, batteries, mobile phones, shredder waste and specific IT and computer products – use them, they will cost nothing and in some cases can even make you money, many printer collection companies will now PAY YOU for your old and used printer supplies. Put your recycle bins by every machine where it’s easy for staff to use them as habit.

6)      Use less A4 paper

There’s one great way to improve this; ask your office supplies provider to give you an average volume of paper used in 6 months (or 1 month if you are a large user) then make a pile of that exact amount in either the café area or better stiff reception area – somewhere where everyone will see it, place a sign on the top saying that ‘this is how much paper we use in OUR office – please work with us to reduce this consumption for a greener and better world’. The effect of seeing the physical amount used will give an actual image for people to see – A picture tells a thousand words!!

7)      Use less water in your restrooms

Push button taps in the toilet areas of your office are perfect to release just enough water needed to wash your hands AND NO MORE – saving money and the environment.

8)      Buy the green office machines for your office

Many fax machines, printers and photocopiers have selling USP’s designed to appeal to the greener office shopper with features like; less ink consumption, auto shutdown, fast print speed, light shut off etc etc – look out for the ones which shout about their Carbon friendly features.

9)      Heat – not too much and make sure there’s enough

Your office should be a constant temperate between 20 and 24 degrees C, reducing a room temperature by a single degree can reduce heating bills by as much as 10%.

10)   Insulation (and oldie but still a good one)

Loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and damp proofing are al still great ways to reduce lost heat in the office and home.

For more information on carbon footprints and green initiatives within the office visit the Carbon Trusts Website.

Cambridge council staff told to 'Hand over your office supplies'

The team here at Officeprofiles think this is a fantastic idea as well a being a very green idea.

Staff at Cambridge borough Council have been given a stationery and office products amnesty as part of the organisations cost cutting and Eco drives aimed at cutting the stationery budget.
The amnesty brought some interesting items back to the stationery stores including a £50 printing calculator and a book rack worth more than £20 as well as the usual office bits including, binders, envelopes, dividers and spare reams of A4 copier paper. In fact the total amount of A4 paper returned to the stationery stores weighed over 3 tonnes which (if piled on top of each other) would have reached over 117 feet tall!!

The scheme has been seen as a great success both in products returned and also in raising awareness of how the hidden costs of running and office can sometimes lie idle for years in workers drawers and cupboards.

Great new tips for storing copier paper and A4 laser paper

We've listen to our customers questions and decided to share many of the answers that might help our office shoppers make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing the correct office supplies.

Today is the first of our 'Top Tips' guidelines that aim to highlight some of the most common questions we get asked on each product section, and to start with it seems only fitting to post those answers on the subject of A4 copier paper.

In addition to this product information we are also adding brand sections in each department meaning you can see all of the products that we offer from any given manufacturer.

Some of the most popular ranges we sell include;

conqueror paper

Croxley script paper

Data Copy paper

Navigator paper

Data colours paper

We also offer many speciality papers, correspondence papers and textured paper to suit any printing needs.

Brand new Grip pens launched by Bic

Global Stationery supplier BIC has introduced twoexciting and innovative new stationery products to its line-up of top selling office equipment.
The 4-Colours Bic Grip Pro, and the Atlantis Easy Glide 1.6 continue the BIC tradition of delivering high end, quality and reliable office products, at a price that can be accommodated by even the smallest office budget. The new products are expected to continue to help the BIC Company retain its market leadership in the ball pens category.
The new 4-Colours Grip Pro is the latest addition to the iconic 4-Colour family, which first came onto the market 40 years ago, and will no doubt have a place in the hearts of all adults who were lucky enough to own an original as a child.
The Grip Pro has a premium black and silver barrel with cushioned grip, and a ring on the top of the barrel which can be attached to a lanyard for easy transporting. The options of four colours means that office workers will never need to carry more than this one pen around, and with over 1,500m of smooth quick drying writing, it is better for the environment and can be refilled over and over.
The new Atlantis Easy Glide 1.6 is the perfect choice for office workers who want a seamlessly smooth writing pen. The easy glide ink system delivers a 35% smoother performance, and the retractable nib comes in black, blue and red. The cushioned grip is also perfect for workers writing a lot of minutes or drafting notes.
BIC office pens marketing manager Yolande de Trogoff said: "We know that UK office workers, and consumers, want products that they can trust to deliver a great performance, but at a sensible price. BIC's 60 years of experience and innovation means that our new products constantly delight our customers, and the 4 Colours Grip Pro and Atlantis Easy Glide 1.6 are no exceptions."
BIC office products prides itself on providing products that replicate its core values of quality and affordability, whether across its range of shavers, lighters or stationery. The BIC brand on stationery is reassurance of a quality product that office workers should feel proud to use.

Busy Offices Busy Office Suppliers

We have heard it all economy this economy that. Jobs lost, investment curved, no business lending and let’s be honest most of us have seen it have an effect in some way shape or form on our businesses, whether that’s customers that couldn’t continue trading, suppliers raising prices, competition becoming more aggressive or payments taking longer to get to us – apparently the Royal Mail take longer to deliver cheques in poor economies!

Office supplies dealers have seen more than most how the downturn in the economy can mean customers spending less regardless of the industry they are in. There is an apparent relation between the amount of office staff that a company has and the amount that a company needs to spend on office supplies and stationery to run efficiently and if offices are not as busy then the offices either loose staff or simply don’t have as much to do – a quiet office means a less consuming office.

With this is mind office products resellers face limited options to improve the situation; they can either raise their price to compensate the fall in volume, however in a competitive market place like office supplies this option could be very risky. They can canvass to win new business (although every other office supplier will be doing this too) – or they can be creative and take advantage of vertical markets within current customers; this means looking for opportunities with those who already deal with them; ranges like facility management, print, janitorial supplies, printer consumables and health & safety supplies are all mainstays of most businesses purchases but do dealers make the most of these opportunities?

As with any form of selling the real trick to creating these opportunities and avenues is to ask questions, to probe into your contacts within an organisation and to have something on offer to engage the customer once any interest has been made. Office products wholesalers marketing teams are geared up to this way of marketing rather than the typical approach of selling commodity office stationery as a first approach.

Here at OfficeProfiles we have invested heavily in the extended ranges on offer to become the complete office procurement solution for business rather than the usual online stationery store, a member of our marketing team at OP commented “Years ago general stationery and everyday office supplies took up the great part of sellers offering but with the influx of competition in the UK market, particularly from overseas corporate stationers it’s more important now than ever to make yourself different in the marketplace, to offer something that the competition doesn’t and to be able to say yes we can whenever possible”.

Cycling Coast to Coast For Childrens Cancer Charity

One of our directors here at OfficeProfiles will this month cycle coast to coast in support of the Children’s Cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

Marvin Edson has been busy training for this huge ride along with 3 of his closest friends for the past 6 months and has gone a long way to raising the £2000 target that he set out to achieve.

CLIC Sargent has been providing support and care for both children suffering from Cancer as well as their close families in a range of ways including; during treatment where they provide specialist nurses, homes from home and play specialists, holidays, grants and community support services along with all important after care treatment.

The ride itself is thought to be in the region of 140 miles (final route still not decided) which the team are hoping to complete in 2 days; Marvin commented “Through personal family experience we have seen the fantastic work that CLIC Sargent do in the difficult setting of Children;s Cancer treatment, the help and support they bring to the children and families in the most desperate of times cannot be summed up using any words other than their work is completely invaluable and that they need every penny of support that the public can offer”.

He went on to add “From a non-cyclist perspective cycling nearly 150 miles in less than 48 hours seemed like some feat but I have been training pretty hard and hope to enjoy as much of the ride as I can before the saddle soreness sets in!! – jesting aside what these kids have to go through is incredible and if a few blokes on their bikes does something to raise awareness for the great team at CLIC Sargent and all drum up some much needed fund whilst we are doing it then we will be over the moon”.

Support Marvin and his friends through the just giving page below.

http://www.justgiving.com/edson-beeton-lewis/

Even Barcelona FC need to cut back on office supplies

Even the greatest football club on the planet cannot avoid the subject of saving money on office supplies..

FC Barcelona are currently in the running to sign Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, but if they are to get their man then the money men at the top within the Barca boardroom are insistent on making even the most basic of business savings to help fund the £35 million asking price.

The club (who are already 400 million in the RED) have taken the extra ordinary measures of cutting back on body guards, outside catering spend and now even photocopier use; a club spokesperson said 'We have even stopped making photocopies in colour and now do everything in black and white so that we save on the toner costs'

Barca's 2 main targets in this summers transfer window include cecs Fabregas and Manchester city Target Alexis Sanchez.

Hello!

Hello and welcome to the new Office Profiles blog. Here we will keep you updated with the latest news from Office Profiles.