In the Community

EU Referendum - Pros and Cons of a "BREXIT"

Posted on February 04, 2016

Like it or not, the EU Referendum has lately been on telly, radio and basically everybody's mind since the Conservatory election victory earlier this year. That's how Steve Miller, the MD of The Workplace Depot came up with the idea of running an EU Referendum Survey in our office. We will tell you our results, don't worry but first let's go through a couple of important questions that need answering before one should take part in the EU Referendum that's likely to take place in June this year...

Engineers Day - Awareness Day June 4th

Posted on June 04, 2015

June 4th sees the recognition of Engineers Day and provides the ideal opportunity for schools, institutions and businesses across the UK to promote engineering related activities. Engineering in the UK The UK is currently facing the biggest shortage of engineering skills of the last years, according to Engineering UK. Every year, the UK is set to face a shortage of over 81,000 people with engineering skills at all levels, covering the construction, electricity and civil sectors. Given the situation, the UK is trying to double the number of entrants into engineering across all levels of qualification. While engineering still represents a male dominated career with less than 10% of women engineers, improvements are being made. Numerous schools and high schools have already included in their schedule programmes through which pupils are presented with engineering career opportunities...

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2015

Love it or loathe it, it's Valentine’s Day once again. The one day of the year where couples all around the world can celebrate their love for each other, whilst the single ones amongst us either eat their body weight in ice cream or go out with fellow singletons in the hope to try and forget the meaning of the day! Whichever group you fall in to, the majority of people probably all have the same thought process for Valentine’s Day – why do we need this day to declare our love for our partner? Well although the answer on most people’s minds is probably somewhere along the lines of ‘we don’t – it’s a money making holiday’, we nevertheless continue to buy cards, chocolates and flowers to celebrate the cause. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with the day if you ask me, even if it is actually just an excuse to go out and eat a lot of fancy food! Top Tips If you’re struggling for ideas this Valentine’s Day, especially as it has fallen on a S...

Is it a Blue Monday for You?

Posted on January 19, 2015

We’re just over midway through January now, New Year greetings are officially over and normal life appears to have been fully resumed. However, today, Monday 19th January has officially been dubbed ‘Blue Monday’. Apparently, today is the day when the entire population feel a bit miserable, the weather’s dreary, New Year’s Resolutions become undone, and the infamous January blues have officially set in after all the hype of the festivities. It is also probably the week before most people’s paydays since Christmas and it has been a long month after paying for all those Christmas presents. Blue Monday was supposedly first discovered by Dr Cliff Arnall – who reinforces that all of these factors contribute simultaneously to people around the world. The day has become recognised globally, with #bluemonday trending worldwide on Twitter this morning, along with websites such as ...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...