Workplace Blog

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...

Infamous Locker Room Songs

Posted on November 18, 2014

I think we have established that the lockers here at The Workplace Depot are one of the more versatile products we can talk about, not to mention one of the most fun! Have you read a couple of my personal favourite locker related posts? The Wonderful World of Footballer’s Locker Rooms Top 10 Locker Room Movie Scenes Giving Your Storage a Fresh Look Although the majority of these posts are relating to lockers in locker rooms and centring on sports, this is probably what lockers are most known for! With this being said, I thought it would be fitting t...

Road Safety Week 2014

Posted on November 17, 2014

Today marks the beginning of Road Safety Week. Road Safety Week is supported by Brake Road Safety Charity and the 18th year of this event is a great opportunity to raise awareness around schools and in general regarding the precautions to take on the road. The UK has one of the best road safety records in the world, but considering this year’s road related figures, there is still more than can be done to prevent deaths and serious injuries. The most recent Government road related statistics suggest an increase in road accidents between 2013 and 2014, with the main results highlighted below: Road deaths had increased by 4% as of March 2014 compared to March 2013, totalling 1,750 Killed or seriously injured casualties increased by 2% from the previous year Between January and March 2014, there were 380 road deaths, which is equivalent to 13% higher than the previous year’s quarter Of course, with Christmas season app...

Disposing of Fireworks Safely

Posted on November 10, 2014

So you’ve had your display and hopefully nothing has gone wrong. You’re soaking up the applause from the audience and the satisfaction of setting off all of your rockets. But it’s not over yet; you still need to clean up and dispose of your fireworks safely! Immediate To-do List Once you have finished, still keep your boundaries. Don’t let your crowd come anywhere near the fireworks when you are cleaning up. All being well there won’t be any problem fireworks, however if there are any, make sure you give them plenty of room and let them finish smouldering. Make sure you don’t remove any safety clothing; gloves and hi viz are essentials. Ensure everyone is safe and injury free - report to first aiders, if necessary. ...

Community Business of the Year 2014

Posted on November 08, 2014

Here at The Workplace Depot, we are delighted to be named as a finalist for the Community Business of the Year Award 2014. This recognition is part of Rushcliffe’s Community Awards and will take place at the Becket School next week. The nominees for this award are businesses that have specifically worked to support their local community - people, charities, etc. These prestigious awards honour the work carried out by individuals, groups or businesses who’ve gone to great lengths within their local community to improve the lives and circumstances of Rushcliffe’s residents. We believe in helping others, be it getting their voice heard, providing them with some much needed supplies or donating money. Some of the work we have carried out to improve people’s lives within the community include: Donating much needed stock to charities; Cerebral Palsy Sport, Groundwork Greater Nottingham, Rainbows, Age Concern, Nottinghamshire Hospice, Food Cycle and The Mercury Theatre. ...

Unspoken Rules for Working in an Office

Posted on November 01, 2014

For those of us who work in an office, there can be times when sitting at a desk all day is actually not as peaceful as you might think. For the majority of us, we go to work, sit at our desks, complete our daily tasks and converse with our colleagues. Unfortunately, sometimes, some of our fellow employees/employers have other ideas. We have picked out the top 10 unspoken rules for working in an office, please read on to see if you agree! Don’t do any of the following: Leave all your dirty dishes in the sink – it’s not a pleasant sight, and who else are you expecting to clean up after you? Just a quick scrub won’t consume too much of your day; it will also benefit the general hygiene of the office kitchen! Another amongst kitchen etiquette includes heating up fish in the microwave, or the general consumption of smelly foods at your desk. Although eggs and onions might add extra flavour to your meal, they are unpleasant smells that could m...

Everything Indoors!

Posted on October 27, 2014

As you must be aware by now, The Workplace Depot sells everything you could possibly need for your workplace. However, as we have more recently been discussing how to prepare for the winter weather and which products you will need to stock up on if you are working outdoors, don’t forget that we also supply for: offices, factories, warehouses, schools, leisure centres and many more indoor areas that we have just as many products for! For those of us lucky enough to escape the cold weather for the majority of the day, it’s equally as important that we avoid any injuries from the indoors. In order to do this, ensure you have the following products in place: Indoor Cable Protectors - stopping any staff from taking an unwanted trip over loose cables and wires. Entrance Matting ...

Goodbye Nokia - Technology Continues to Grow

Posted on October 25, 2014

As we seem to have been mentioning quite often in our recent blog posts, technology is constantly changing and those of us who work with it are having to learn to adapt to new features on a daily basis. Some of our recent articles in relation to this subject include the introduction and evolution of Google in the workplace, along with the importance of promoting your brand via YouTube. With this in mind, today I came across another technology related story, one that I’m sure many of us will feel a bit of nostalgia over! Microsoft have announced they are ditching the brand Nokia after buying the company. The infamous brand was probably the first phone you ever had and an article by the BBC takes a look back at this brand of phone throughout history. The first portable phone produced by Nokia in 1952 was a Mobira Senator, which w...

Improving Communication in the Workplace with Google

Posted on October 23, 2014

There are a number of factors that could potentially contribute to a breakdown in communication in the workplace. Most recently, these have been associated with how people would rather email or interact in other ways over the Internet with their fellow colleagues, rather than have a face to face conversation that in turn leads to miscommunication. However, following the extended use of social media, mobile phones and tablets, these methods and further applications such as Skype and Google Hangouts are becoming easier and in fact more effective for employees to use to resolve problems efficiently. With this in mind, the evolution of technology is becoming extremely evident in most workplaces today, with the implementation of advanced computer programmes so that employees can complete work in a more resourceful manner. It’s rare that you will find a fax machine or even a scanner in an office today, as these have been replaced with the option to share documents more virtually, such a...

Personal Touches to Your Workspace

Posted on October 04, 2014

Last year, we published a blog post titled: ‘How to choose the best art for your office’. With this in mind, considering the new canvases we have just had delivered to the office, I thought it would be amusing to compare the factors of what makes the best office art along with what we now have hanging on our walls! The above article states that first impressions and company considerations are important for office decoration, however it also suggests that you should select bold colours and original pieces. This is what we have tried to achieve with our new images; what do you think? ...