UOE TIPS

Blogging?

2011-06-01T17:48:00.002+01:00

We reckon blogging is a bit 2010 - so this year we're tweeting:

UOE - www.twitter.com/#/uoelimited
QuickDROP - www.twitter.com/#/quickdrop

76% of Office Workers Steal from work!

2010-12-15T20:52:00.003Z

The results of a recent survey showed 76% of employees have stolen from their place of work. Men are particularly light-fingered, with an astonishing 82% admitting to helping themselves, compared to 71% of women.

The stationery cupboard was hardest hit, with pens (60%) and printer paper (42%) being the most commonly pilfered.

Stamps (31%), mugs (28%) and toilet paper (24%) were also frequently taken items. The stapler - often thought of as a frequent target of office thieves - was only taken by 6% of those surveyed.

One in twenty employees admitted to having taken more valuable items - ranging from printer toner to laptops. More unusual items declared included chairs and office plants, even filing cabinets, carpet tiles and entire desks.

This is exactly why UOE helps its customers take control of purchasing (using the latest online order management technology) and direct, named delivery to the order person. Having an unlocked stationery cupboard with hundreds of pounds of stuff sitting around is too tempting for some!

These days some stationery companies are even offering to top up the cupboards without customers auditing what has been used in any clear and controlled manner - this just makes the matter worse (a constant fresh stock of new stuff to steal!), hides the truth and is certain to increase cost at a time when every company needs to curb their unnecessary wastage. Their claim is that you'll never need to worry about stationery again - I'd suggest you'll never know who or how things are being used!

To find out how you can take control of your stationery spend contact us

Toners - A No Fly Zone!

2010-11-03T13:29:00.003Z

The recent attempt by Yemen based terrorists to detonate a bomb built inside a toner cartridge on board UPS and Fedex cargo flights last week has led the British Government to issue a complete lock-down on the shipments of machines, toner and ink cartridges in, through and out of the UK.

With immediate effect the following restrictions have been put in place:

1. No toner or ink cartridges over 500gm can be carried in hand luggage
2. No unaccompanied shipments of printers, fax machines, copiers are permitted on board airlines in/out or through UK airports
3. No unaccompanied shipments of toner or ink cartridges are permitted on board airlines in/out or through UK airports.

This lock-down is in effect for at least 30 days from now and will be reviewed by COBRA (the government emergency response committee) after that.

The knock-on to this will undoubtedly be a mix of stock availability issues, delays in order fulfillment and a drop in exports of the product out of the UK - none of this good news for the UK economy.

The powder in question was previously secreted in a pair of under-pants and in a shoe worn by a terrorist and they didn't ban anyone wearing Calvin Keins or trainers did they?! This powder can be hidden in ANYTHING - stopping toners and inkjet cartridges being distributed legitimately just does not make sense and does not really do anything to make this country safer.

Ryanair says "lets get rid of co-pilots"

2010-09-05T13:28:00.002+01:00

In a typically headline-catching manner Michael O'Leary, head of Ryanair announced today that he thinks having a second pilot in the cockpit is a waste of money.

He suggest that a member of cabin-crew could do the job if necessary...well perhaps a cheaper answer would be to offer a free ticket to anyone who wants to "have a go" at flying the plane for him too!

It's one thing to do away with food, baggage, free toilets and even seats but the pilot - come on Leary grow up....next you'll be cutting costs on servicing and maintenance - with calls of "we know best"

There will always be people who just want to go the cheapest way possible, but more and more people I meet don't want to fly Ryanair for precisely this slapdash attitude. Ryanair? More like Ryan-don't-care.

Scan and Print on your mobile phone

2010-08-04T23:01:00.002+01:00

Brother UK is launching the world’s first iPhone app that allows users to scan to and print from their mobile phones!

Brother iPrint&Scan is free to download and allows customers to wirelessly print from and scan to their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad – with a compatible printer from Brother’s latest inkjet multifunction printer range.

The companys says they are the first and only company to develop an app that performs both these tasks, and they are providing customers with a unique feature to maximise further the functionality of their printers.

The mobile application, developed in response to the ever-growing popularity of smart phones and the development of more advanced handheld devices e.g. the iPad, is released and ready to be downloaded now.

Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at Brother UK, says: “Smart phones are becoming an essential modern day business tool and we are pleased to be able to offer even more convenient features for our customers.”

All of Brother’s latest inkjet multifunction printers introduced from 2009 onwards that have a wireless interface will be fully compatible with the application. Models with network interface are also compatible when connecting to a wireless network.

Brother is developing similar versions of the app for other types of smart phone including Google-based Android 1.6 handsets and above.

Jones adds: “iPhone users have been waiting for an app like this for quite some time. We’re really pleased to be at the forefront of innovative printing technology, providing businesses with the means to succeed.”

The application has been initially launched in English, with plans to introduce French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch versions by the end of 2010. For more information, or to download the Brother iPrint&Scan app for free, visit http://itunes.apple.com/app/brother-iprint-scan/id382775642?mt=8

Compatible printers are available from Brother resellers (including UOE!)

Back to School Promos? The kids have only just finished!

2010-07-25T12:18:00.004+01:00

Walking along Oxford Street in London's West End you could have been forgiven for thinking it was mid/late August...not only was it fairly empty but any shop with even a vague connection (and some that didn't even seem to have that) were announcing Back to School promotions!

Most schools had not ended for the summer break more than 48hrs earlier....I remember when I was at school that seeing the Back to School signs was always a pre-cursor to the end of the fun, summer day and return to uniform and dark afternoons of the Autumn term....but to start telling kids (and parents) to get ready for school only as they finish just seems, well mean spirited! What happened to a Summer Sale or something - give the kids a break!!

Now I'm all for offers/deals/promotions - call them what you will, but next thing they'll be advertising Christmas in September...oh hold on...they already do don't they?!

Every little helps the planet - except Tesco.

2010-07-05T23:57:00.004+01:00

It would seem that Tesco has been helping to keep prices low at the cost of one of the most delicate eco-systems on the planet by sourcing its own-brand stationery items from a discredited paper mill that uses rainforest trees to make paper - and it has known about it for years!

More environmentally focused Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer have chosen previously to cease buying their own-brand paper products from the Asia Pulp & Paper group (which lost is Forest Stewardship Certificate 3 years ago) but, accordingly to The Times, Tesco seems to feel that the paper it is using for more than 80 of its own brand products (which The Times believes to be cut from Indonesian Rainforest) is still ok in this day and age.

It is a shame that a company that can influence so much chooses to move so slowly on such an important issue - whilst hypocritically shouting loudly about it's other environmental efforts! We at UOE call for Tesco to join us in promoting the use of recycled and FSC products and stop using excuses like "we expect to stop using this source by the end of 2010". You can stop today. Right now. Come on Tesco - every little helps!

Dance To Charge Your Phone

2010-06-11T18:23:00.002+01:00

Festival goers will be able to charge their mobile phones simply by stomping their feet at this year's Glastonbury Festival thanks to an new ingenious product!!

Orange has launched wellington boots which can recharge your phone using the heat generated by your feet! They estimate that 12 hours of walking, dancing and general festival going will give you one hour of talk time....

Whatever did we do before Post-It Notes?

2010-05-26T15:16:00.002+01:00

It's 30 years since the humbled post-it note was invented by 3M and what ever did we do with all those scraps of paper we used before???

To celebrate, our friends at 3M have erected a huge post-it note (5mx5m) at Liverpool Street in the City of London and launched a facebook game at http://www.dontforgetyourfriends.com/ with a holiday up for grabs for the winner!

So make a note - 2040 will be 60 years of the post-it!!

Probably the worst strike in the world..?

2010-04-12T09:56:00.004+01:00

So recently there have been strikes by cabin crew at BA, tube workers on the Underground, the AA are threatened with one by a major union, the dockers in Finland refused to ship paper into the UK and other territories but now the worst of all is upon us... workers at the Carlsberg Factory in Denmark are on strike! Why? Due to a ban on drinking beer throughout the working day!

Up until last week workers (and drivers!!!) were permitted free beer, water and soft drinks everywhere but on Wednesday the beers were removed from all refrigerators. Now workers can only have a beer at lunchtime. An old Carlsberg policy permitted drivers to have up to 3 beers per day outside lunch hours and the warehouse workers had the same right.

Now I'm all for giving people the rights afforded to them under their employment, but these rights seem dangerous in a driving and warehouse environment!

But Carlsberg workers obviously feel strongly about it as 800 of them have walked out in protest...will it get resolved soon? Probably.

Innovate or Die: A lesson from Bebo

2010-04-11T13:49:00.007+01:00

Trying to hold a share of the market in a world dominated by big brands can be tough and none tougher than in the fickle world of 'social media'.

The inhabitants of the world of myspace, facebook and until more recently Bebo are a demanding crowd. After all, like the best bars, clubs, shops and brands you only go there if your friends do - and in social media it's even worse - whilst you might chose to wear clothes to stand out, there is no point or way to 'stand out' on a website that no one visits or joins...and so Bebo - once inhabited by c.6m members in the UK & Ireland (that's nearly 1 in 10 people!) - has been put to pasture by AOL - the company that bought if not just 2 years ago for a staggering $850m! Now try explaining that one in the board meeting - ouch!

In contrast, during the time of Bebo's demise, Facebook not only gained about 8m new users (more than Bebo had it total) but also monetised its model into a high-targeted ad-space. I do wonder how much of this assumption that things could stay the same and be ok is as a result of the previous owners (Michael Birch and co) entrepreneurial spirit being removed from the development process at Bebo? Perhaps the era of big corporates thinking they can just stuff and make money from it is over?

The lessons for me are clear - if you aren't focused on delivering to your audience the experience they seek you will die (in a corporate sense at least!) This doesn't mean yesterday's rules are acceptable today. If you're not careful it won't be just the rules but the entire game that will have changed before you even knew!

This means choosing either a target market (niche) or being not only early to market but consistently fast and best of market for innovation.

Online communities relying upon an existing base to remain loyal must either become the medium of choice (as for now at least, Facebook has been come) or have a solid and clear niche (like Keiron O'Neill's Playfire.com has become for online gamers). It doesn't mean it is impossible to top Facebook's reign - it just becomes harder the ubiquitous it becomes.

Offline the rules are the same - albeit a little slower - but if you stand still you will be going backwards and on the slippery slope to doom, disaster and death.

In a sentence: innovate or die.

The Power of Paper

2010-04-11T12:48:00.004+01:00

Few will deny the delight of opening a birthday card, wedding invite, job offer letter or even a brochure for that new car/gadget or product you desire in your wildest dreams, but in recent years as texting, tweeting and ecards and ebrochures have become the norm and with a green agenda some have struggled to reconcile traditional hard-copy vs the online alternative....plus in these frugal times you don't want to waste budget on time wasters!

Only last week, I went to test drive a few new cars and despite the brochure for each brand being online I wanted to take away a hard-copy to review at leisure - all 3 of the car dealerships I visited had only a over-thumbed internal copy to peruse at their desk and didn't have any to give away. I felt robbed of the enjoyment of reviewing the car, page by page whilst I sit in the bath or sipping a coffee at the dining table. As rich as the video and flash technology on their respective websites for me it just doesn't become part of the rich shopping experience I seek from a luxury purchase... even a "request a brochure" on the website has failed to make the brochure appear on my doormat.

I can almost understand that an online enquiry should solicit an e-brochure - the enquiry mirrors the medium of response but why not demographically profile me using some clever technology and decide whether my request for a hard-copy brochure is warrantied (do i have the credit score/lifestyle profile to match my enquiry etc) then send me the extra-value brochure as it would seem I'm a worthy bet for the extra investment and then follow-up with a phone call or a personal email (not an automated one!)

I would suggest that these days hard-copy versions of your online documents actually hold more value than ever before (especially if you combine it with intelligent data capture).

We are all bombarded by emails (spam and otherwise), it is so very hard to stand-out when images don't download unless accepted by the receiver (as in outlook), every email looks pretty much the same - you can't smell or feel the difference that a fine paper or finish gives a printed document on screen and I guess that is why - for me at least - the values I associate with a quality printed document retains its value. After all, which has the greater impact another email in your inbox marked "high priority" or the one well-crafted formal letter to arrive in your mail today expressing a customer's concerns/supplier's desire to supply to you an item they know you're interested in?

I think technology gives us huge benefits in not having to produce huge ranges of documents that require constant updating and product data changes but to encapsulate your brand in a way that stands out from the crowd there is still a place for the well-printed, target-focused document. And, it doesn't have to come at a compromise to the planet - with sensible use of environmentally aware inks and papers (even Conqueror - seen by many as the premium brand of paper - is CO2 neutral these days!)

Recently UOE did an email and traditional letter-based comparison communication. Both targeted the same group of interested parties with the same words, but one sent by post on a quality letterhead, personally addressed, personally signed; the other a personalised email (sent from the same person's email address)....the response rate: 40% of those we emailed opened the email, 12% clicked the link and 4% responded. Of the posted version we obviously don't know how many opened it (but as we were sending it to their home - I'd reckon over 95% will have), the response rate was 35%....still think it isn't worth it? Perhaps it's time to think again about targeted offline marketing?

So if you want to stand out - try using some paper, some ink and bit of old-fashioned quality design - the results will be amazing.

Superglue saves baby boy

2009-12-04T17:05:00.002Z

Toddler Dafi Edwards owes his life to some skilled surgery and a blob of superglue!

Using a revolutionary technique just hours after he was born, doctors used Histoacryl (a medical equivalent of the humble superglue that we sell!) to plug a leak in his brain that would otherwise have killed him in a few days....

Postcards were the 'original' Twitter

2009-09-04T08:14:00.004+01:00

According to a report by Sky News, twittering is not a new up-to-the-minute technological advance, but a natural extension of an old product - the postcard.

In the days before micro-blogging, text messages and social networking sites, the Edwardians were using the humble postcard to abbreviate their thoughts and opinions to one another.
Introduced in its present form in 1902, the picture postcard, containing an image on one side and room for writing on the other, became an instant hit, according to a study by Lancaster & Manchester Metropolitan universities.

Almost six billion postcards - an average of 200 per person - were sent in Britain between 1901 and 1910, reveals study authors Drs Julia Gillen and Nigel Hall.
The cost per postcard was a ha'penny, instead of the usual penny for a letter and, with up to 10 postal deliveries a day in the big cities, users could write and answer notes quickly and cheaply.

Like Twitter, which restricts users to 140 characters per "tweet", postcard writers only have a limited amount of space to pen a message. So I guess not a lot has changed really! Except the postal service has got slower and more expensive!!!

not just delivered, but delivered with love

2009-09-03T14:32:00.004+01:00

We believe that getting the goods delivered on time just isn't enough.

Many organisations promise a next day guaranteed service but how many really keep that promise and include not just getting it there, but getting it there with the right attitude?

We know that the vast majority of our clients (who are serviced by our very own UOE drivers in the their shiny black vans) have been given a first-class service but we have found the courier options we have sometimes employed for some regions to be...lets just say, less than helpful on every occasion.

I guess it comes down to the individual driver and the pressures put upon them by traffic, targets and tickets but why does it seem that so many couriers seem to hate their job or feel delivering the goods to the client is just too much to ask? We do find the odd driver who goes the extra mile (excuse the pun) but more often they just don't seem to be bothered.

About a year ago we began a review of our next day courier service and our search has ended with the selection of a new carrier - UPS. As couriers go, these guys are as passionate about doing it right as we are. Their brand and client retention is build on REAL service not just delivery statistics. Their focus on control of everything UPS ensures the client experience is a positive one. This focus and professionalism opens a host of opportunities for us to be greener, more efficient and most importantly give our clients - wherever they are - the same quality service we expect from one of our own drivers.

We go live with UPS during the second half of September 2009....we cant wait and would love your feedback on the service once it goes live.

Dont be a Spanner!

2009-08-22T13:49:00.003+01:00

Rarely do a cause and a supporter go so neatly together as Screwfix and it's support of Everyman's campaign to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

With a very high proportion of male, 20-50 year old buyers - it is perfectly placed to communicate with the demographic most at risk. But the coup is in the marketing...selling t-shirts to raise money is nothing new....but putting the tag "Don't be a Spanner, Check your nuts" is just ace. It is witty, funny and irreverent and the type of statement you can wear and get away with!

Screwfix's goal is to raise £100,000 this summer for the Everyman charity - we wish them every bit of luck...well, we'd be nuts not too wouldn't we?

Wasps of the Parking World

2009-07-20T14:49:00.005+01:00

Last Thursday I opted to pay by text message for parking in Islington. A simple process (once registered) that I think has really made parking a whole heap easier in London (no more scrabbling for coins etc!) but thanks to the over-zealous nature of a Civil Enforcement Officer (or Traffic Warden as everyone else would call them) on behalf of Islington Council, I was given a ticket despite having paid!

Why? Because the CEO (to abbreviate their glorified title) decided to wait less than 60 seconds from when I parked! It takes their own systems 2 minutes to confirm the payment so...how does this behaviour help anyone? All it does if frustrate honest, tax-paying drivers to despise once again the wasps of the parking world and condemn a Council for creating paperwork for their appeals department (cost to the tax payer), waste my time (cost to my business), print a needless ticket and associated paperwork (cost to the environment).

If drivers could hand out tickets to the councils for wasting their time when they've done nothing wrong, then Islington Council would be getting one from us today. Come to think of it, what a great idea that would be....!

Hijacking the Union Jack!

2009-07-13T08:20:00.005+01:00

Yet again a multi-national (and ironically one of the less eco-friendly of energy companies) have hijacked 3 great things - the concept of a greener Britain, the brand identity of a properly green business and the most nationalistic of all things, our union jack!

Whilst I wholeheartedly support the concept of a greener Britain and all things that that may encourage that possibility, the reality is that EDF is neither green nor British. EDF is French -Electrcite de France -so why are they pretending to be British? Why are they not flying a french flag and making it green? And most importantly why have they hijacked the brand equity of a PROPER green energy company (Ecotricity) for their own benefit...why because try as EDF might, they are not and never will be green at the core!

Ecotricity has used the Green Union Jack for more than 2 years as a clear symbol of being a TRUELY British and TRUELY Green organisation - a fact that will hopefully not be lost on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA confirmed it had received more than 80 complaints accusing EDF of confusing people by using Ecotricity's imagery and a further 23 complaints accusing it of being "unpatriotic" in its presentation of a painted Union flag.

A spokeswoman for the watchdog confirmed that an investigation was underway into the use of material similar to that used by Ecotricity, although complaints that the use of a green Union flag is insulting to the UK have been rejected. Do you think such a comment would be made by a French government agency or an American one for that matter - why do we not protect our flag for use by our countries great companies?

EDF attempted to downplay both the threat of legal action and the complaints to the ASA but they are just one of many who are stealing the Great from Britain. We wish Ecotricity success in defending their brand identity against the greenwashing multinational that is EDF.....after all if EDF can get away who will do it next?

The Greed of AEG Live - Michael Jackson Ticket Refund Fiasco

2009-06-30T16:13:00.004+01:00

The unrivaled greed of AEG was revealed today as they have proposed that ticket holders for the (sadly) cancelled Michael Jackson Tour at the 02 next month should have a choice of a refund (less transaction fee charges) or could swap their payment for the 'actual' ticket!

Give me a break! Many people have booked flights, hotels and made a host of other arrangements, other companies have lost thousands or millions in revenue and the good-for-nothing scrooges at AEG are trying to con people for their full ticket price for piece of paper they've already printed.

I would have thought the very least they could have done was give people the ticket as a memento to show some regard for their loss!

Interestingly, and perhaps more creatively, would it not make more sense to say to ticket holders we'll give you 50% of your ticket price back and invite you to a celebration of Michael's life - with the dancers, the music - the whole gig and have Michael on the video wall behind it - that way everyone still gets a chance to enjoy the music, atmosphere and 'be there', the other companies involved don't waste their money, sales of memorabilia will be off the scale and everyone comes out with a little of something to remember a legend by?

Beats paying full price for a scrap of paper? What do you think?

Going down the Tubes

2009-06-09T16:42:00.002+01:00

It's a tough world right now. Companies are fighting for survival, staff are eager to keep their jobs and England has a World Cup Qualifier at Wembley...but none of these issues (big or small) seem to stand in the path of the arrogant leader of the RMT Union - Bob Crowe - in letting his members strike and stop a the entire tube network across London (most of whom haven't even voted for strike action according to the BBC).

The strike will cost businesses at least £100m, let alone the environmental impact of extra vehicles hitting the roads - striking for pay should not be allowed. The RMT are demanding a 5% pay-rise and a promise of no redundancies. Mr Crowe - grow up - this is 2009 - the year of no pay-rise and if anyone should be made redundant it should be you.

Stop screwing with the lifeblood of the country and get back to work.

A ream of paper for a pint of beer?

2009-05-13T11:56:00.004+01:00

In response to the credit crunch, one London pub - The Marksman, in Shoreditch - is offering a barter scheme for beer.

Now its regulars can trade CDs or reams of paper for a refreshing pint rather than hard cash...so next time you want to buy a round you'll want to order KF01087 (5 reams of paper)!

Gives you wings!

2009-05-05T19:57:00.003+01:00

Never underestimate the power of folded paper...this year Red Bull's Paper Wings Championship was held in Salzburg, Austria...

Armed with just a single sheet of A4, British entrants, Nick Goodwin, George Miller and Matteo Sibilia reached the finals of the Red Bull Paper Wings Championships. In qualifying competitions across the globe more than 37, 000 students from 85 countries folded their bits of paper into the best planes possible.

"I was on my way to hand in an essay when I got stopped in the student's union, offered a drink and asked to throw a paper plane for a chance to win a trip to Austria," said George Miller, a student at Exeter University. Two months later, he was flown to Austria along with 205 other Paper Pilots from around the globe to battle it out in the plane flying final.

The venue was as extraordinary as the event itself - Red Bull's private aircraft space Hangar-7.
The building was opened in 2003 after four years painstaking work piecing together 1,753 individually crafted bits of glass.

The paper plane captains showcased their skills in three different disciplines.
First up was Aerobatics, the category marked on aviation tricks and overall creativity.
Pilots dived, danced and even stripped as they launched their paper creations into the air.
"I am so excited to have won. I've spent eight years training for this moment," said category winner Takeshige Kishiua from Japan. Kishua, a dedicated member of the Japanese Origami Paper Planes Association, clearly took things a little more seriously than Team GB.

Nick Goodwin, the British long-distance candidate said he "only entered for a laugh".
But he added that he "had the most incredible weekend, meeting and swapping plane folding tips with amazing people from all around the world" - all without having to lay a finger on his student loan.

Pure Genius

2009-04-27T11:09:00.004+01:00

Any of you familiar with the Apple i-tunes program will know what a great source of music and video it is, but recently they have added what they have called the 'Genius Sidebar' - and let me tell you it does exactly what it says on the tin!

The Genius Sidebar appears down the right hand side of your i-tunes window and constantly offers suggestions of other tunes or video you would like based upon your i-tunes music library on your PC...it is unbelievably accurate and without doubt is the cause for me personally spending more on their website in one hit than i ever have before! It is amazing, you buy one, then it recommends you another 'classic' tune you'd forgotten that have your hands waiving in the air (or if you're more restrained perhaps your feet tapping)...it is without doubt one of the best examples of cross-sell marketing i have ever seen.

This gentle, soft-sell nudge, totally focused with a free trial (the usual 30-second clip) is enough to almost guide your mouse to the "buy" button....why don't more websites think and develop rich, accurate client content in such an easy to buy way....i didnt even have to scroll down it was right there at the side of where i was!

Yet again, Apple not only raises the bar for thinking and execution of an idea, but it has achieved that which is so hard online - it has put back the fun of buying into the online experience - the effect (for me at least) is as good if not better than walking through a music shop and flicking through the shelves. One last thing to do then Apple....just reduce the cost of the songs please!!! At £0.79 it doesn't sound like much but your new tool means I can't help myself!!!!!!

Tasmania's wombat poo paper - the ultimate in recycled paper?!

2009-04-25T16:03:00.001+01:00

Well we all knew about Elephant droppings making great art papers...but here's another source of supply....The BBC reported this week that wombat droppings are helping an industrial city in Australia fight the effects of the global financial crisis.

Burnie, in the north-west of the state of Tasmania, has been hit by repeated rounds of job cuts.
But despite the gloom, one local industry is thriving by producing handmade paper out of a material no-one else wants - wombat poo.
The novelty paper is a hit with tourists keen to buy a distinctly Australian souvenir from the area.
The wombat, a furry marsupial, lives in the wild only in Australia. Its characteristic waddle and playful appearance, makes it one of the country's most endearing native creatures.
'Nice organic smell'
In recent years, a company in the port city has been experimenting with paper made from kangaroo droppings - but its popularity has been eclipsed by wombat-inspired products.
Creative Paper manager Darren Simpson says the manufacturing process can be rather unpleasant.

"When we are boiling it, it does smell horrific as you can imagine, but once it has been sterilised and rinsed properly there's no scent left to it. If anything it just gives you a nice organic smell," he said. He added that it was the tourists themselves who came up with the wombat idea. "As people were coming through and we were showing them the samples of our paper, they would throw questions at you like 'can you make it from sheep poo or can you make it from koalas?'. And the one that kept popping up more than any other was the wombat."

All the paper is made from the dung of a single animal called Nugget that lives in a wildlife park near Cradle Mountain, one of Tasmania's most popular tourist destinations.
Every day Nugget's droppings are collected by his keeper and sent off to the factory.

Wombats are herbivores and diets loaded with plant fibre make their faeces ideal for making some of Australia's most unusual paper....recycled paper? This gives it whole new meaning!

Make your Mark - with a Tenner

2009-04-25T14:52:00.003+01:00

This year’s Make Your Mark with a Tenner, the national challenge to see what thousands of young people can achieve with just ten pounds in one month, has come to an end. The results are, we think, a breath of fresh air amidst the doom and gloom of the financial crisis;
· The largest profit was £736 and the average profit was £42, compared with a return of just 2p from a savings account!

· Make Your Mark with a Tenner competition winners have been congratulated personally by entrepreneur and ‘Dragon’ Peter Jones, one of the funders of the scheme.

If this is the first time you’ve heard of ‘TENNER‘, here’s what it’s all about;
Thousands of young people from across the UK (20,000 registered and 16,000 took part) were challenged to make a profit AND a difference with their £10 by working alone or in groups. The results far outstrip the return they’d have got from the bank or by dabbling on the stock market. Given just one month to make as much money and social impact as they could, the idea was funded by NESTA, Peter Jones and by Michael and Xochi Birch (who founded and sold Bebo).

Here at UOE we salute the team behind Make Your Mark (and a special well done to our friend Oli Barrett). This project gives us all hope that the future leaders of industry, banking and (perhaps) politics will actually understand the importance of entrepreneurial spirit and determination to succeed and make the world a better place for everyone!

The best individual return on a single tenner was a staggering £736. Henry Pearce from St Thomas’s Church in Kent donned a 1920s bathing suit in a ‘historic costume show’ and used his entrepreneurial savvy to get people to pay for this novel experience. After returning his £10 loan, he has decided his profits will go to a Kenyan school, Molo 220, and the competition also helped the Church form strong links with a local special school.

The best group return was £493 (on £20) by two students from Cullompton Community College, Devon. They compiled a recipe book with recipes collected from local business people, then sold the books for £1 each or £1.50 for a signed copy.

Other enterprising and hugely profitable ideas included a Bollywood Dance performance, a silent disco and a healthy tuck shop. Community cohesion was a major theme amongst the entries. A team from St Kentigerns Academy in Scotland created a concert to get young people in their area off the streets, while an outstanding individual effort from Ashley Maugan – a young Irish traveller living on a caravan site near Hackney – saw her spend her £10 on bulk buying products to set up a shop for children in her community, who were previously relying on their parents for lifts to the local supermarket.

Across the top 100 entries, the average profit was an impressive £42 on £10 in just one month. That beats the stock market over the same period hands down!

Here's to Make your Mark 2010!

Do you need to offer Customer Service - or is it cheaper not to?

2009-03-22T14:38:00.009Z

Many of you (thankfully) may not have heard of the 'wannabe' home of low-cost flights called Jet2 and if you haven't as yet had the opportunity to sample the 'delights' of their offering, my personal opinion would be simply this - don't. I've travelled with them twice (both times experiencing some of the worst travel stories of my life!) so i know my experience is not a one-off...and therefore cannot be forgiven as such.

We all understand that low-cost means just that, and yes we understand that we wont perhaps get all the frills (if you can call a free sandwich and a drink such a thing) but there are some basics that should happen and must never be cut - these are basics of customer service, respect and availability of personnel willing to deal with valid customer complaints. On a recent journey with Jet2, these basics were not only overlooked but indeed seemed to have been accepted as "not included!" Even their tag line is a joke - "friendly low fares" - could someone please explain to their marketing guys and girls that it's not the price that needs to be friendly - its the staff and the ethos of the business. Having a low fare is just a price thing, not a service thing....but perhaps this is the point?!

In this recession-strapped world, where companies seek to reduce costs, customer service can seem like one thing that you don't need to worry too much about....WRONG, WRONG and once more WRONG!

The list is endless with companies who seems to have done the maths that says it costs £x to have a fully trained (and accessible) customer service team and if you (foolishly) assume that most of the people who are not happy wont come back anyway, it's cheaper not to deal with the problem, rather than train staff to do so....sounds back to front...but think about it? If your business is "high-churn" (the term these types of companies use for meaning people leave us all the time), then losing a few percentage points more doesn't really make any difference - if you're cheap enough some other (sucker) will fill their space.

Such a policy (written or otherwise) seems to be most common in markets where it is harder to switch (think broadband providers for example) and so the calculation for customer service has become much like the bean-counters of old at the car manufacturers who worked out it was cheaper to send out a car even if it had a dangerous fault and pay for the people who got hurt (rather than fix the fault which would have cost more!)

But I would suggest in these cash-strapped days where the customer is not just king, but banker too, looking after the ones you have, resolving accurately and promptly issues when mistakes occur and going out and winning new ones it all important. Research shows that a client that has a problem with service and has their problem promptly and professionally resolved will often become not just a repeat user, but regularly an evangelist of the product, brand or service! But try getting a bean-counter to build that into a spreadsheet - as any accountant will tell you - it is very hard to value goodwill - but in this market it can be the difference between success and failure - if you can't rely on your existing clients to keep shopping - what hope do you have?

For me, my Jet2 experience means - firstly i will never fly with them again, secondly i am taking every possible opportunity to share with as many people as i can my feelings about them, thirdly, I would have happily paid a few pennies more to ensure a better level of service (because the stress and time delay meant more to me than the pennies!)...so there you go Jet2 - you lost a customer, he's become an evangelist for all things NOT Jet2 and would have paid extra to be happy to boot - still think your customer service calculation adds up?

Best Price or Best VALUE?

2009-03-04T11:20:00.004Z

The debate of best value is by no means unique to the office supplies industry...take airlines for example.

RyanAir has built a business on the basis of "low fares" not best value or customer service. But often its sometimes extreme focus on "discretionary revenue" has come back to bite. Recently the undiplomatic Michael O'Leary declared on BBC TV that the airline was considering charging £1 to use the on-board toilet. This sparked headlines and got RyanAir more free press than anything that the concept of having no check-in desks would have got (which was the reason he was actually being interviewed!)

People who fly RyanAir often plan and bring their own food, drinks etc on-board...bringing your own toilet might be a little too much....but you have to give it to them for spinning a rather dull story into something of note.

But the whole concept comes back to value and the client's perception of it. For some, it is all about the price of the ticket - hence the fact that RyanAir flies 729 routes with 181 aircraft - but for others Leary's manner, Ryan Air's corporate attitude and contempt with which he seems to view the flying public may be more than they can bear and so other, added-value airlines win through. The interesting question is at what point do the price proposition get found out and buyers begin to tot up the incidental costs of paying to put a bag in the hold, paying by debit card, paying for food paying for the toilet....what will be next - perhaps the spoof safety card above suggests some ideas!?

But seriously take this real-world example:

Stanstead to Barcelona with 1 bag in the hold, priority boarding, meal on-board, paying by debit card travelling out 18th March 2009/return 21st March 2009 - total cost?

RyanAir- £87.68 - (RyanAir advertises ticket at £0.01 and £0.00 before taxes!)

British Airways - £91.00

Additionally, the BA flights arrives at Barcelona's main airport - much closer to Barcelona than the RyanAir flight (which would no doubt save you the £3.32 in travel cost!)

So who is cheap and who is not? OK I know you can deselect the priority boarding and bring your own food - but in a like-for-like experience (or as close as you can) BA would seem the better deal overall....did you expect that?

Stationery presents much the same challenges as that of the airline industry....some clients are all about the price of the paperclip, paper, toner etc....for others the ability to speak to a knowledgeable member of our team, know that we are environmentally focused, flexible billing, have a late cut off of 18:00hrs for next day, have a great price on everything they buy not just the "loss leaders" promoted by the supplier and not be tricked by hidden charges (like "protection plus" - Viking Direct's equivalent of the debit card charge from RyanAir) have a value.

But some poor souls will always be seduced by the perceived low price with which such companies play their game. We believe in transparency, openness and no hidden tricks - and in turn we believe that when you really play on a level playing field that much like BA, UOE offers its clients BEST VALUE overall.

Storm in a coffee cup?

2009-02-19T17:05:00.004Z

So Peter Mandleson has taken offence to Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz stating the fact that the UK economy is pretty ropey! Well I know politicians don't like to hear the truth, but WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE - we are in the biggest trouble imaginable and pretenting it isnt happening, isnt going to fix it!

Back in December we reported in our blog about Richard Branson's opinions on UK PLC and let's be frank, he didnt exactly mince his words either!

Why do politicians want us all to pretend all is rosy in the garden. It isnt. It wont be for many a year and if Mr Mandleson spent less time swearing at drinks parties and more time actually working to find a solution, we might all be in a better place right now.

Oh, and whilst on the subject of helping the UK economy, why do the US, France and many other countries around the world fight to ensure government contracts are won by UK companies and yet in the UK the winners (and I speak for the office supplies industry in this too) are often foreign businesses who have shares listed on Foreign stock markets. Want to help change things Mandy? You can start by helping UK owned businesses take their fair-chunk of the government spending pot. That way the money stays in the UK and supports british workers and their families too. Isolationist? Perhaps slightly, but when it's cold outside, it's time to shut the door.

Personalisation and Flexibility - the key to great service

2009-02-17T09:03:00.005Z

Delivering consistent, high-levels of service is great, but in a world where service is a pre-requisite how do you attain the golden prize of customer delight? The answer lies in personalisation and flexibility.

On the UOE Group on LinkedIn we posed this very question and Phil Jones, Sales & Marketing Director of Brother UK (who writes a great blog - check out http://thecorporatebubble.blogspot.com/) gave us this first-rate example of what we mean:

Customers today set their expectation of service not on your competitors but on the wider sphere of service they receive in their lives. We must all look outside the industry to see what's being achieved in service levels by others and look to replicate/introduce into this industry. I've just discovered valet parking at Manchester airport.

I just call them, tell them when I want to drop my car off, someone is there to meet me, they take my car away and bring it back when I fly home. It's the ultimate in convenience, they even switch my heated seat on for me on cold days, are ultimately personal in their approach and here's the rub, it's cheaper over 2 days to have valet parking, than park in the short stay at the airport.

The service is impeccable, smart drivers, polite and in a world when time matters, it saves me time. Lessons to learn. Busy people, need high convenience at short notice. An existing business model can be disrupted (convention of static parking to flexible parking). I'm not a number, they know me and have taken great effort to remember me (personalisation).

Double Dutch? Don't stop having fun at work!

2009-02-04T22:51:00.004Z

Our good friend Anju Rupal of Sense2love.com told us about a great website - that captures the humour and sense of fun of a top Dutch department store called HEMA.

Their first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands. Take a look at HEMA's product page... it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. Don't click on any of the items in the picture, just wait and see... This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer, ya?

Proof indeed that you CAN keep things fun however big your business gets - why wouldn't you want to have fun? That would feel like hard...er...work, wouldn't it?!

UOE 2008 Christmas Party video is released!

2009-01-27T10:55:00.013Z

So the official video from our 2008 Moulin Rouge Christmas Party has been released....what a party it was! We joined up with a few other like-minded companies at London's Hippodrome to party away with 1300 of our favourite clients.

click this link for the video
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=56200457575

With 8 live acts, free drinks and fancy dress - it was always going to be fun....but didnt realise how much!

If you were there, see if you can spot yourself on the video or in the photos taken by our two professional photographers Dasha Photography and Gareth Hendley

Thanks to all who were able to attend, and if you didnt, shame on you(!) and we hope to see you next time!!

Sully the Hero Pilot - every company needs people like that!

2009-01-18T12:31:00.003Z

Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, US Airways pilot has been a pilot for decades, but this week, in 5 minutes he went from being "just another pilot" to a hero worthy of a call from the President of the United States....rightly so...but....

Here is a guy (and his co-pilot too) who through training, skill, a cool-head and professionalism, backed up by a plane that stood up to the only thing it is built for (safe travel whatever the circumstances) achieved the glorious triumph of 100% survival of passengers and crew landing on water. Yes, Sully is a hero, yes I'd be happy to fly with him next time I board a plane but here's the thing...he's flown thousands of hours (pretty much without incident) and yet faced with the one time he need to do his job perfectly - he did it. And then, to top that off - he didn't want praise, has shunned the limelight and is keen to "get back to work". A lesson to us all.

Every business NEEDS and every successful business HAS a "Sully". They may not get a call from the President, it may not be filmed by passers-by or make international headlines - but individuals who are expert in their jobs, know their systems and most importantly know what to do when things DON'T go to plan.

So here's to the experts - you are our safety net between success and failure every day. You are the everyday heroes and to you, and Sully, we salute and thank you!

The "Don't Post" Office

2009-01-03T11:20:00.006Z

With hundreds of branches of the Post Office closing across the UK, you'd think that the remaining main branches would embrace customer service and work to ensure their own survival...not so it would seem....here is a true tale of appalling customer care which we experienced only yesterday at the East Finchley Branch of the "Don't Post" Office.

Early on the 2nd January we took a few hundred packets (A4 sized weighing about 1.4kg each) to the post office for mailing. (we don't use the collect service as this increases CO2 and as part of our Carbon Smart programme we walk the mail to the post office rather than have it collected by Royal Mail van.) We had completed all the necessary forms to do so (and had even checked a few days earlier that they would be able to take the bulk mailing in one batch, the post office staff had said "of course, no problem").

So we had bagged (into separate bags weighing about 11kg each - that's about the same as a sack of potatoes and less than a box of photocopier paper) and tagged our mail, taken them to the post office and assumed the job was done, until a few hours later a member of the post office came to our office and told us to "take the bags back as the driver of the Royal Mail van that collects the mail from them said he couldn't lift the bags as they were too heavy and breached health and safety." WHAT!!!! WHY IS THIS THE LIE REGULARLY USED THESE DAYS TO AVOID DOING SOMETHING!!??

Now lets look at the evidence for this - 11kg per bag - less than a box of photocopier paper, less than a bottle for a water dispenser - hardly a health risk. No, this was just some jobsworth, idiot who didn't fancy doing his job properly who had taken it upon himself to destroy all the hard-work that Royal Mail has done in convincing companies like UOE to use their services instead of couriers as we had before.

The Post Office manager then demanded we take back our bags - so we carried them all back to our office and called the Royal Mail complaints line.

A quick call to the Business Sales and Service Helpline at Royal Mail quickly established that we had not contravened any regulation and when we asked if "the driver was within his rights to reject the parcels" or was just "being an idiot" we were pleased to hear that "the second one" was the response from the helpline operator. The helpful lady added: "Post Offices can not reject paid-for mail, it's what they are there for and drivers don't get to pick and chose what they want to collect either". By accepting our bags, we also reckon that the contract of accepting our consignment had been created and as such had been breached by a refusal to deliver our paid-for, first-class mail.

Armed with this knowledge we went back (with our bags) to the Post Office. The branch manager was as much help as an envelope without a stamp and started quoting rules about the number of letters we can post at once (such rules don't exist) and when we asked her to produce a document that showed this rule, she could not. Her final comment was "we're just the Post Office, we can't make the Royal Mail driver take your parcels". True or otherwise, this is a damning indictment of the system and yet another reason why Royal Mail are soon to be broken up into privatised elements and Post Offices have no benefit if they don't want to actually do what they say on the sign above the door. Perhaps the business that will replace them eventually will (hopefully) be staffed by people who get the concept of service. If they aren't they will die (and rightly so). This complacency and attitude of "screw you, you're only the customer" just doesn't wash in any market except a monopoly. So roll-on the privatisation - it can't be any worse than it is now.

Fortunately sanity reigned thanks solely to one sensible, helpful and friendly(!) Royal Mail driver who was just pulling up in his van outside the Post Office. We quickly explained the situation - which he was very surprised by - and the problem was sorted in 2 minutes. Here was a guy who was doing his job and understood that we were the customer and that in his words "your parcels are paying my wages, keeping me in a job - why wouldn't i want to take them!" We loaded our bags into his van and he set off with them, no problem. And we were immediately a happy customer again.

The impact of a single member of staff who doesn't get the concept of what keeps them in their job can have devastating effects. But conversely one great staff member can save the day - so come UK PLC reward great service and recognise these heroes of your business with the same level of glory with which you remove those who sit on the "i can't be bothered" side of the fence. There will soon be 3 million unemployed in this country - our advice: get rid of the staff who can't be bothered and hire some who can - there are plenty of hard-working, customer caring people keen to work right now, so there really is no excuse for employing brand-destroying, lazy jobsworths.

Millions of pounds can be wiped of your brand reputation in a split second because of a "can't be bothered" type driver, or retail sales assistant, or line worker just because they don't want to do what your brand stands for. If a driver doesn't want to help a customer when collecting or delivering, if a sales assistant wants to talk to his/her friends about their weekend rather than serve the client, if a line worker doesn't pack your product properly and you're missing a vital part to put it all together - you don't think "oh, that's a shame", you get angry, frustrated and tell as many people you can about how rubbish the service/product you received was.

When will businesses wake up and realise that front line staff are the most not the least important - and explain what their brand promises mean to each of them (as part of their induction and on-going training), so that their promises get delivered every time.

In today's economic climate, delivering on your promise and having everyone "on brand" has never been more important. It is why people use your service again. If people in your business don't get it, then they should learn it, or go. It is as simple as that. Either that, or close your business up now and go home - because as sure as Woolworth's and MFI, you'll join them as a bit of company history and nothing else.

New Aston Martin Routemaster Bus for London?

2008-12-19T18:05:00.006Z

News today of the two finalists for the new routemaster bus which may well be on the road by 2011!!

As an iconic symbol of London we think either design would be a fab replacement for the tired, old classic Routemaster. But for us the winner is the The Aston Martin/Foster bus.

The design envisages a highly-manoeuvrable, zero-emissions vehicle, with drive-by-wire, solar panels built into a glass roof, a vehicle accessible for all, with warm lighting and wooden floors....and we hope no space for graffiti or chewing gum on the seats either!

Economy Is F****d, Says Branson

2008-12-19T17:58:00.004Z

We love Sir Richard Branson. Not just because he is a straight-talking, high performing business leader who understands the importance of customer service and brand value but for the fact that he says what most dont have the balls to say.

The entrepreneur described to Sky News today the current downturn as "a terrible, terrible mess" and blamed "some very irresponsible people in the banking community" and "lax regulation".
"I was going to say, it's f****d, but I think I had better not have said that," Sir Richard told Sky News. "I think it is a terrible, terrible mess, which has been brought upon us by some very irresponsible people in the banking community, some very lax regulation and we are going to have to work hard to dig ourselves out of it".

Full marks to Sir Richard - and his PR aide who added "He's only saying what everyone's thinking, in a more forthright way." - too right and about bloody time someone did!

Darling, are you stupid?!

2008-11-24T17:08:00.003Z

Since when did any shopper get excited by a whopping 2.5% discount? Why is cutting VAT such a big deal...?

1. It is NOT a 2.5% reduction it is a 2.5% reduction from the mark up price - try it - £100 + 15% vat is £115 vs £117.50 if it was 17.5%. If you take 2.5% OFF £117.50 it would be £114.56 - sounds a small difference on £100 but it mounts up!

2. He is raising duty on Fuel, Tobacco and Alcohol - so what he taketh with one hand....

3. The average Joe the Plumber (to use McCain speak!) doesn't pay VAT on most things - food, kids clothes etc are exempt, Gas and Electricity fall into a separate VAT band not affected by the change, Fuel will be adjusted to compensate, as will the other sins of drink and fags...so what exactly is the Chancellor suggesting??? It would seem his solution is to get us all to go out and spend more of the money we can't borrow and don't have to help him in his (our) borrowing nationally?!

4. We'll get clobbered later on with higher (hidden and otherwise) taxes.

5. The work involved in reseting systems, tills, price tickets is massive (only to be reversed in 13 months time!) and how many savings will really be seen - especially at a time when raw materials prices and costs of goods continue to out-strip the 2.5% off!

6. Businesses claim back VAT anyway so it makes no difference to them and they wont be encouraged by any such saving - and as for a Corporation Tax change - it only helps if you make money Mr Darling!

All in all, it seems like a load of spin and piffle to me. What do you think...share your thoughts here....

Customer (lack of) Service

2008-11-22T10:42:00.002Z

Why do companies bother to have a customer service department if they dont want to return calls or emails when customers get in contact.

We dont want voicemails, long holding times and an idiot who seems to care more about his next tea break than our issue...we want to be heard, understood and made happy. After all, if a customer takes the time to actually tell you what went wrong the company is getting a second chance and a useful bit of feedback....so a small suggest from us would be USE IT.

Here at UOE we dont use voicemail, automated button pressing or off-shore call centres, we use experts who understand the importance of your business and survey a cross-section of our clients every 90 days to ask them how we are doing...so what is so hard about that we wonder and why do so few other companies seem to follow our lead.

Have you had a bad experience with another company why not share it here....nothing beats a good rant.

Feedback is important

2008-10-24T10:33:00.002+01:00

At UOE we love our customers telling us what they think. The good the bad and everything in between - that's why we do 90-day surveys with a random selection of our clients as well as have feedback pages on our website too (we're also planning some on-line community pages where the most popular questions and comments will be posted). It's only by our clients (and suppliers) telling us what we do right and wrong that we can be the best we can.

So: on the topic of feedback we thought this was some of the best/amusing feedback we'd read for a while.

It come from UPS (the global courier):
After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics corrects the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humour. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.By the way,UPS is the only Major airline that has never, Ever, had an accident. So I guess feedback works!

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P:Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from the midget.

Things you should never put on a job application?

2008-10-23T09:44:00.006+01:00

This week we've been recruiting some extra staff for our retail store and some of the statements on the CVs , application forms and in interviews have been absolutely hilarious.

Whilst Alan Sugar on The Apprentice last season may have been slammed for selecting a winner who lied on his CV, there's surely no fear with the following (too honest?) candidates: (we're hiding the names - it's only fair!):

In the section on courses and qualifications wrote: GCSE's were not taken due to fear of failing.

In the section on why did you chose your last job: it was not what I had in mind because of all the jobs i really wanted were all taken

In the section on attendance/lateness: I was only late once, because I was not sure about the location of the store. (we're hoping this wasnt after the first day!!)

In the section on other interests: I truly am interested in anything at all

We love the honesty and so, yes we will be interviewing the candidate because you can teach skills but you can't teach honesty or attitude.

Copy that!

2008-10-23T09:32:00.003+01:00

The 'Xerox' process celebrated its 70th birthday yesterday.

Xerography, the invention that made it possible for people to create and share information with trillions of copies and laser prints first began when a copy was made on October 22 1938, in a makeshift laboratory behind a beauty parlour in Astoria, Queens, a borough in New York City.

The copy, preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, reads “10-22-38 ASTORIA.” The inventor, Chester Carlson, was a scientist and patent attorney who was determined to find a simple way to make copies of documents. Were he still alive, Carlson might well be surprised to learn his invention uncorked an information revolution that has continued to this day, making information readily available and expanding the world’s total knowledge.

Infotrends, an independent industry consultancy, estimates that 3.08 trillion copies and prints were made around the world this year on products fathered by Carlson’s invention.

Around the world many people still refer to making a copy as 'Xeroxing' so Mr Carlson, for being personally responsible for creating the market for more than 40% of our annual sales we at UOE salute and thank you!

The drink of experts?

2008-10-20T16:55:00.005+01:00

So you probably already know we sell catering stuff - bottled water, coke, loo-roll, kitkats and heap of yummy biscuits etc etc ...but recently we've had great fun playing on a little website we found called Soft Drink Can Generator

At the site, you can create your very own can with your own tag-line, logo etc etc... so here - for a bit of fun - are two products we reckon won't be worrying Coca-Cola or any of the other brands.

Seeing things a different way?!

2008-10-20T15:27:00.004+01:00

Here at UOE we're all about looking at things differently...but when one of our team was travelling along the M4 motorway recently and encountered a Range Rover on its side and a boat across the motorway, even he thought things were a bit unusual!

Happily everyone in the car was ok..although the boat might not be too good on water anymore and we're told the car is ok so long as you dont want to turn left or want to open the doors!!

Guinness Book of Records - Biggest Ballpoint Pen!

2008-09-25T16:22:00.005+01:00

This year's Guinness Book of Records includes the listing of Olf Fujner as the maker of the worlds biggest ballpoint pen...we're hoping it doesnt come packed in 12's!!!

For the love of Boris

2008-08-26T20:08:00.005+01:00

So Boris Johnson Mayor of London was handled the Olympic flag this week in the closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympics but please, please, please can someone please give him a suit that fits. Oh and whilst we're at it...Mr Brown - you can sort it out too...

We love Boris' attitude and go get-em style but a great city needs an leader that looks the part...you never see President Sarkozy dressed like that!

I'd also recommend perhaps a regular read of our fellow blogger: http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/

When they chant your name...

2008-08-26T19:37:00.003+01:00

Jamie in our Account Management Team stumbled across this amusing footage on youtube today ...it's not everyday you find a crowd at a live gig chanting your company's name but...here it is!!!

Out of office

2008-08-15T21:53:00.003+01:00

Welcome to a blog about the cool, the amusing and the latest in trend and fashion in the office. Who are we to decide on what ranks as cool ...well good point, so we'll welcome your comments on whether we get it right or wrong...but the bloggers of this post are office products experts and we all know that experts are ALWAYS right :-)

For years the "out of office" message has been purely a matter of fact and formal in style - and that was if you remembered to switch it on when you left and off when you got back!

But in this era of all consuming brand style, companies and individuals are often going for an out of office message that are 'on-brand' than the usual "i'm out until X"

So next time you set your out of office why not stop and think if perhaps this one might fit your style...

Thank you for your email - I am out for the next week in Asia but working - I may take a little longer to keep up with responses due to meetings.
Should you need me urgently please feel free to call Daniella Smith - she is far more capable than I am.

Where the Hell is Matt?

2008-07-21T17:15:00.004+01:00

The video below is totally inspiring. Just watch it all the way to the end - and you need speakers because the music that makes you smile...

Stride Gum in the US sponsored Matt's trip around the globe - and whatever they paid it was worth it in viral marketing value - it is getting about 1.6m viewings each week on the net for the past 4 weeks!!!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Chaos in the print shop

2008-07-01T16:45:00.002+01:00

We just love this little video on youtube by Clustarack.com. Clustarack provide specialised wide format roll holding racks (which we can happily sell you!) and the video is what happens (perhaps!) if you don't stack rolls properly.

By the way, the video took 98 takes to get the stunt right! Well done guys. We love it!

Hitting the spot - how far we'd go to help our clients!?

2008-06-20T12:22:00.005+01:00

Here at UOE we're known for going the extra mile for our clients...so when Caroline Cusworth, Business Development Director was asked by one of her clients if she'd be interested in trying out one of their new services it seemed only natural to say "yes!"

The client in question? - a Doctor in London's renowned Harley Street - specialising in cosmetic surgery - nothing unusual there you think....until you find out that they specialise in.... G-Spot enhancement (if you don't believe us: http://www.profdartey.com/) or what is commonly referred to as the G-Shot!

The offer to be the first to have this new treatment in the UK was enough for Caroline to jump at the chance..."helping a client at the same time was nice too!" says Caroline...although we reckon she probably enjoyed her side of the bargain a bit more!

I guess now we really can say we will do anything with/for our clients....!

19% of staff steal office supplies

2008-06-12T23:24:00.003+01:00

Nearly one in five (19 percent) workers report they have taken office supplies for personal use in the past year, according to a recent Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey. Of those who admitted to stealing office supplies, 21 percent felt guilty or regretted the act. In 2006, a similar Spherion survey found that 18 percent of workers reported they had taken office supplies for personal use.

Workers said the primary reason office supplies were taken for personal use was because they needed them (41 percent). Nearly one-third (32 percent) said it was because their boss/office manager said it was alright to do so, and 15 percent claimed the company will never miss them.

The most common types of items taken by workers were pens, pencils or rulers (25 percent) and paper, post-its or file folders (19 percent).

Of the age groups surveyed, younger workers (25 percent between the ages of 18-24 and 29 percent between 25 and 29 years old) were the most likely to have taken office supplies for personal use, while workers aged 65 and older were the least likely (nine percent) to have taken such items for personal use. Further, older workers feel it is wrong to take office supplies for personal use more so than any other age group, with 83 percent saying so.

Further research by UOE found that much of this theft is as a result of open access to stocks in on-site cabinets and cupboards. It was found that when online purchasing by the user replaced bulk general stocking of goods theft was reduced (as was per head expenditure) as over 75% of workers said they were conscious that their boss could see what they were ordering and would spot any over-ordering more easily.

Press 1 to report a crime - invalid entry - goodbye.

2008-06-06T22:58:00.005+01:00

Just when you thought every possible organisation that could employ automated call-handling had done it...Thursday's London Metro newspaper reported that Police in the UK are considering a 'dial-a-crime' telephone service.

The metro reported: "Call centre-style automated phone systems with numbered menus should be brought in for victims to report crimes, police have been told.
The 'dial-a-crime' service would save money and ease pressure on police control room staff, an official report suggested.
It should be coupled with other 'self-service channels', such as internet sites with online forms, for users to give details of minor offences or report anti-social behaviour. "

I assume it won't be long before an offshore call-centre is handling our 999 service and will ask us to hold whilst he gives us a log-number to report a crime!

The benefits of online reporting and the like for minor (so-called petty) crime makes sense (although the mere fact that it just goes in a database presupposes the thought that at some time someone, somewhere will actually be accessing and using the information to actually solve a crime rather than just run a report for a statistical analysis.

In a time when the fear of crime is rising, it seems crazy that what little interaction between police and the public is to be eroded by unwanted solutions such as automated call-handling.

The idea was put forward by the Home Office-funded National Policing Improvement Agency on the basis that 'Well automated self-service interactions can cost as little as 15 per cent of costs, when compared to the costs of interacting with a live agent.' ....Well forgive me, but i quite like the idea of SPEAKING TO THE POLICE rather than leaving a voicemail!

As for the failed ASBO solution to cut anti-social behaviour, I suppose this would mean that the automated system could just send a text message ASBO to the trouble-maker....yep, that'll really save some cost....and probably be as effective as the current solution.

Loo-nar Mission

2008-06-06T22:46:00.003+01:00

This week NASA launched a Loo-nar mission - to fix the toilet on board the International Space Station!

It begs the question why there is only one toilet on the entire station...surely a lack of planning(!) but also the extreme levels of adaptability that the astronauts on-board are required to handle. Plumbing, space research, quantum physics - is there nothing these guys and girls can't do?

NASA has since confirmed that the toilet is now back in action - so again another out of this world experience - a plumbing job that got fixed on time, first time....I guess you get what you pay for...although that has got to be the most expensive call-out charge any plumber has ever made!

Swivel Chair Racing

2008-04-28T20:11:00.019+01:00

Here at UOE we sell swivel chairs, management chairs, visitors chairs, boardroom chairs, stacking chairs, polyprop chairs in fact a chair for pretty much every ocassion..but we've never been asked to provide an office chair you could win a race in...

But, that's not the case elsewhere...in Germany this week the first swivel chair derby took place - and to say the wrong sort of chair can cause back-pain would be an understatement! Check out the photos and video (and dont try this at home!)

What would the risk-assessment chaps say about this one....we cant wait to read the accident book. By the way, any damage caused we think would count as mis-use and probably not be covered by your warranty! Enjoy. We did. :-)

Teaching you to breathe!

2008-04-21T10:13:00.004+01:00

We sell IT stuff and so our experiences of less than computer-literate customers is as wide as most but it baffles me to think that any company can seriously feel the need to treat its customers as totally stupid?

I am fascinated with the daftness of the instruction manual from Doro (a well respected DECT phone manufacturer - whose products we sell) for their latest NeoBio 40/45r telephones.

Its instructions for receiving a phone call begin with:

1. Wait for the handset to ring

Well obviously the phone needs to ring for you to want to answer it.... should we start telling customers to breathe in and out to prevent loss of consciousness too? I am all for guiding customers through the confusion of a new piece of technology but come on let's give our customers some credit! Please.

It's this kind of silliness that leads to many customers claiming they just can't get along with instruction manuals!

Disagree? Please post your comments...

Foolproof or a Proof Fool?

2008-04-15T10:08:00.008+01:00

These days we're all expected to be experts at stuff we have no training in. The skill of proof-reading is exactly that - a skill and yet it falls often to the least busy staff member, an intern or just gets left till just the very last minute. Proof reading is like cold-calling - everyone can use the telephone but few can make a living from it!

Checking proofs of printed materials is vital to the presentation and professionalism with which companies are judged. The chatty, personal style of a business is one thing, but get the spelling wrong and that trust, reliability and professionalism vanishes faster than you can misspell the word "received"!

UOE's Ten Tips to Proof Reading:
1. It is twice as hard to proof read your own work than someone else's - this is partly because you think you know how to spell things when you don't but also because you will have a tendency to skim the text as your mind knows what you wrote and what comes next! No, really!! So by choice get someone else to proof your work for you too.

2. Cultivate a healthy sense of doubt. If there are types of errors you know you tend to make, double check for those.

3. Read very slowly. If possible, read out loud. Read one word at a time.

4.Read what is actually on the page, not what you think is there. (This is the most difficult sub-skill to acquire, particularly if you wrote what you are reading).

5. Proofread more than once and not straight after you've written the work.

6. Check the photos too - has an image been reversed (classic shots when the text on a shirt is back-to-front)

7. Take an overview look at the whole page - is the layout correct? Are the colours what you expected? Do the fonts match? Do the headlines make sense and are they spelled correctly!

8. Try reading for spelling backwards - this forces you to read each word out of context and stops your mind wandering.

9. Never assume that the studio that did the artwork have a clue how to spell your company name, boss' name, how to format a telephone number or a postcode. Assume everything will be wrong and work on that basis.

10. Keep a copy of the amendments you have made so you can double check them first on the next proof - don't assume the studio will get the amendments correct!

In proof reading, you can take nothing for granted, because unconscious mistakes are so easy to make. It helps to read out loud, because you are using two senses. It is often possible to hear a mistake, such as an omitted or repeated word that you have not seen.

Remember, professional editors proofread as many as ten times. Publishing houses hire teams of readers to work in pairs, out loud. And still errors occur! So you are warned!

Here's a classic example:
Great 48 page brochure, lovely photo, correctly mailed to the right contact but....look at the typo on the cover. "the very lastest in outdoor lighting" - whoops...surely that should read "latest"

There are no traffic jams on the extra mile

2008-04-07T22:23:00.003+01:00

We just love the story reported by sky news about the New York Cabbie who took an elderly couple on the longest taxi ride in the city's history...

Douglas Guldeniz drove the pair from Queens, New York, to their retirement home in Arizona. A total of 2,500 miles. The meter ticked up a whopping bill of £1,500. It isn't known if he got a tip!

But what we do know is that he - along with 60 other drivers in the city - were rewarded with New York Taxi and Limousine Commission's 'Going the Extra Mile' award. We love the idea that a customer service focused organisation stopped and rewarded its staff for going above and beyond the call of duty... Good work guys!

It sure beats the 12 mile rule for London cabbies that Transport for London require!

Terminal Illness

2008-04-06T14:42:00.005+01:00

We've all had that feeling - you know the harder you try the worse it gets! Well that seems to be afflicting BA and the launch of its new facility at Heathrow. Try as they might the world seems to be conspiring against them to actually get the benefits of the "super-advanced" Terminal 5.

You would have thought seeing as they could chose the time and date of the launch they'd have tested to destruction the baggage management software and hardware BEFORE inflicting it upon their paying customers! For sure, it will go down in history not only as one of the all time PR disasters but also a text-book case of how not to communicate and treat your clients in the face of critical systems failures.

As an regular BA traveller I'm not looking to burn my executive club card and membership, but having just booked some flights for late May 2008 I am beginning to wonder whether they'll have sorted it out by then!!

To top it all, it would seem the new super-flash car-park management system at Terminal 5 also has a bit of a serious flaw - as broadcast on BBC1's Watchdog programme this week - it tells you you've parked your car in a different space to the one you actually did(!)

Granted this only happens if you fail to follow the signs the computer puts on the ceiling indicators as your car moves through the car-park...but I'm sure I'm not the only one who ignores these type of car-park signs...after all someone else might get that really good space before me!! They really should have tested it with REAL people, not programmers!

How can it be that as the flagship of BA and BAA respectively the launch of Terminal 5 could be allowed to suffer such silly and fundamental process failures? Were they not properly checked? Sadly it is quite the norm to see the launch of a technologically complex project which despite being "tested" is woefully inadequate for the purpose at launch.

As a business, UOE has spent 18 months developing its latest Dragonfly online order system. The new site is fantastic, delivers a heap of extra benefits to clients and is super-fast but if we had launched it back in November 2007 as we originally planned, well it would have been a terminal 5 fiasco. We bit the bullet, swallowed our pride and worked even harder to make sure when we did roll it out, clients got what they wanted - a good first time experience that (hopefully) makes then feel more inclined to use us rather than avoid us! Making the delay was a tough decision, but we knew we'd be letting ourselves down if we didn't.

Now UOE is rolling out the Dragonfly technology over the next 90 days to all of its clients. The feedback so far has been excellent...so fingers crossed we not made any of the silly mistakes of our airline colleagues!!

Call Centres

2008-04-04T16:31:00.004+01:00

There is nothing worse than a so-called customer service centre that puts you through those really annoying button pressing systems, then repeats the same "calls may be recorded" nonsense about 3 times, then tells you to hold (for what seems like forever) then when you get through some muppet at the end of the line tells you his/her computer system is down and can YOU call back! This delightful experience - which sadly seems commonplace these days - was today courtesy of our 'friends' at Transport for London.

This fabulous service was topped off by me calling back and having the phone hung up by some incoherent telephonist who just said "sorry really busy at the moment can you call back" - what, AGAIN?!

Why do so many call centres think that we want to press loads of buttons - hands up if you do?
Why do so many companies think we want to call THEM back - they're busy? Why not offer to call ME back?
Why do companies think giving me a issue reference number is sufficient to get me off the phone! I want REAL, good old fashioned help. With people who care, understand and are empowered to make a difference...not some buck-passing call-centre chicken who doesn't get the idea of customer service!

To Insure Prompt Service

2008-04-03T22:27:00.001+01:00

So this is our first blog and to give you the flavour of what we'll be discussing it will be the good the bad and the downright awful service that we encounter in our daily life and the interactions with companies and people we suffer and delight in.

I think great service should be standard in this 21st Century, high-speed, low-tolerance world but it would seem not everyone is on the same page! Bad customer service just isn't right, shouldn't be accepted and deserves to be discussed, debated and ditched.

So lets begin...Why do so my restaurants automatically add a 15% tip these days to your bill? They say it is to prevent the Inland Revenue chasing the restaurant owner for the taxes on the tips the staff pocket...but is it really just to promise the staff some extra money from us rather than pay them a decent hourly wage? Regardless of the service they give? I'm all for tipping - after all TIPS are supposed "To Insure Prompt Service - TIPS" not just to line pockets of the slowest waiter the world has EVER seen!! So join me in doubling your tip when the service is great and not being shy to ask it to be removed by the surly, unfriendly and downright rude guy or girl who just ruined your night out.