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We caught up with our wonderful studio team this week to get their top 10 tips on providing the best possible artwork when it comes to creating your promotional products.  Artwork plays a vital role in creating eye-catching and impactful branded merchandise. Whether you're preparing designs for printed t-shirts, mugs, or promotional items, it's crucial to provide the right artwork to ensure high-quality results and a strong representation of your brand. To help you navigate the artwork process successfully, we have compiled a list of the top 10 artwork tips for branded merchandise. By following these guidelines, you'll be well-equipped to provide artwork that allows us to help you produce stunning promotional products.   1: Use Vector Files:  Whenever possible, design your artwork using vector-based software such as Adobe Illustrator. Vector files allow for infinite scalability without any loss of quality, ensuring your designs are crisp and clear on merchandise of any size. These file types include; .pdf .eps .ai .svg    2: Colour Mode:  To ensure accurate colour representation in print, convert your artwork to CMYK colour mode. This mode is specific to print and will help avoid any unexpected colour discrepancies. This is ideal for digitally printed branding methods as the colours will have a closer match to what you see on screen.  Most print methods will require matching to PMS colours (pantones) If your artwork was created by a designer, they will have the pantone colours that were used to match the colours on file or in your brand guidelines.    3: Opt for High Resolution:  If unable to provide vectored artwork, provide artwork with high resolution to ensure clarity and sharpness in the final printed item. Aim for a resolution of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) to achieve optimal print quality. These file types include; .jpg .png    4: Remove Backgrounds:  When designing artwork, consider removing any background colours or elements and opt for a transparent background instead. This allows for greater versatility in applying your design to various merchandise items.    5: Embed Fonts or Convert to Outlines:  To avoid font-related issues, embed the fonts used in your artwork or convert the text to outlines. This ensures that the correct fonts are preserved, even if we do not have access to the same fonts as you.  Ensure all artwork elements are embedded to the file to ensure that your artwork doesn’t loose quality or have any missing parts.      6: Custom Fit the Design:  Different merchandise items have varying dimensions and print areas. Design your artwork specifically for each item, ensuring it fits within the designated print area. This prevents any unintentional cropping or distortion during printing.    7: Prioritise Simplicity:  When creating artwork for branded merchandise, keep in mind that simpler designs often work best, especially on smaller items. Intricate details may not be clearly visible when scaled down, so opt for clean and easily recognizable designs that maintain the core elements of your brand.    8: Maintain Brand Consistency:  Consistency is key in maintaining strong branding. Ensure that your artwork aligns with your brand's colour palette, logos, fonts, and overall visual identity. This consistency will enhance brand recognition and reinforce your brand message.    9: Proofread and Review:  Before submitting your artwork, thoroughly proofread and review it to ensure accuracy and avoid any spelling mistakes or other errors. It is also helpful to seek feedback from teammates or trusted colleagues to ensure your artwork is of the highest quality.    10: Understanding the Branding Method:  Digital Print will always print in full colour, meaning no matter how many colours are in your artwork, this branding method will include them all.  Screen Print/1-4 Colour Print – This print method is best for simple vectored logos that do not include gradients otherwise your artwork will have to be converted to accommodate a solid spot colour to suit the branding method.  Deboss/Emboss - An emboss branding method involves creating a raised design or pattern on a material's surface. A debossed branding method creates a design that is stamped down or recessed into the surrounding material. Both branding methods are created using heat and will not include any colour in your artwork.  Engraving – This method involves a laser burning your artwork into the product which creates a highly detailed, executive effect on the product. This method can create precise and detailed designs that are long-lasting and difficult to remove.  Embroidery – This method involves converting your artwork into embroidery stitches and coloured threads which is then sewn into the garment. This method results in a durable and high-quality finish that is commonly used on clothing, hats, bags, and other textiles to promote brands and logos.    Providing the right artwork for your branded merchandise is crucial to achieving outstanding results and effectively representing your brand. By following these top 10 artwork tips, you'll be well-prepared to provide artwork that adheres to technical specifications, showcases your brand clearly, and conveys your desired message effectively. With attention to detail and a clear understanding of the artwork process, you can confidently collaborate with merchandise providers to create visually striking branded items that leave a lasting impression on your audience. 

Promotional Merch for a Good Cause We’ve recently been working with Age UK Norwich, a local charity to provide branded merchandise for all their promotional needs. Whether it be for employee goodie bags or to celebrate the launch of a new marketing strategy and logo. We thought we’d take this opportunity to thank them for their support, and spread some awareness about the importance of charities like Age UK Norwich for our local community and beyond. Who are Age UK Norwich? They’re a Norwich based charity that work towards bettering the lives of the elderly population of Norfolk. Their ultimate goal is for Norwich, and the surrounding areas to become “age friendly”. This is especially important since it’s predicted that by 2041, the population aged 85+ is expected to double in size. With age, comes more health complications, as well as low-mobility and loneliness. These are all problems that Age UK Norwich are trying to avoid. How Age UK Work to Prevent this Problem? Age UK make a difference by improving the quality of later life through providing the elderly with added support, helping them to live healthier and more connected lives. This reduces risk of illness and chronic loneliness. They work to tackle the inequalities that can reduce life expectancy, this includes promoting WHO’s Age Friendly Principles in the design of the city, services and culture. How Their Work has Made an Impact Age UK Norwich have had a massive impact on their service users, whether it be through offering information and advice from people who genuinely understand, or through dedicated health coaching from qualified professionals. In fact, 6/10 people who have had health coaching have gone on to join a club to help them stay active, with 92% of people saying they feel more confident after speaking with their health coaches. Age UK Norwich even offer a befriending service, which has seen 83% of users say that the service has improved their well-being. What Totally Branded Did For Age UK Norwich We’ve been working with Age UK Norwich for a while now, and they have made orders with us a few times. To celebrate the launch of a new marketing campaign, we produced merchandise so they could put together some goodie bags for their employees, including printed tote bags, branded notebooks and pens, promotional flasks, and printed umbrellas. We also produced some branded mugs for their office, and currently in progress is some uniform style merch, including branded fleeces, polos and running vests. We spoke with Holly from Age UK Norwich about our collaboration, and the account manager in charge of their account, here is what she had to say: “Totally Branded is a joy to work with, and we are proud to support a local Norfolk-based company. They have a wide range of products with everything we need for our merchandise. Sophie is always helpful and quick to respond, and the designs and products have been impressive. It always puts a smile on people’s faces when they receive our merchandise. This makes a lasting impact, leaving them with a reminder of our charity and its mission to improve the quality of later life in Norwich.” - Holly Harrington, Age UK Norwich. Want to see what we made for yourselves? See below! ⬇️ Just a few examples of the work we produced in-house for Age UK Norwich.   Recognition where it's due... So there you have it! If you’re a local business looking for some branded merchandise, get in touch, we’d love to connect. Our experiences working with this great charity have been invaluable and we look forward to working with them again and again, and seeing how their hard work pays off in our local community. Thanks to Holly, Jamie and all at this Norwich-based charity HQ for their support of our growing business, as well as for the work they’re doing to support those in their later years. An extra shout out to our production team, design studio and account manager Sophie for always putting 110% into the work you do for our customers.

It's a new year, and that means it's time to get organised, and start planning for the year ahead. Did you know that January is the official “get organised month?”. Also known as “GO month”, it’s an annual initiative sponsored by the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals. This is actually a US based association, but the idea behind “get organised month” is beneficial to people worldwide. It makes sense that the first month in the new year is about finding balance again. During the chaos of the Christmas break, every plan, routine and schedule fall apart and you enter into festive mode. Family all around you, time off work, staying up late, the list goes on. January is for getting back on track and organising your life. The calm after the storm, you could say. Get Organised with our Top Tips We’ve thought up some top tips for getting organised and staying on track not just for January, but all year! Tip #1 Set realistic goals. It’s great to have a long-term vision or target. However, it’s important to manage your own expectations when it comes to these goals. If you set smaller goals more often, they’re easier to work towards. You’ll feel like you have achieved more because you’ll hit more targets. It can be really demotivating when you don’t succeed, which will pull you off track. Stay motivated with small (but mighty) goals! Tip #2 To do lists. This one may sound like a no-brainer, but there is value in even a simple list of tasks, all written out in front of you. It can help to get all your tasks written down so they’re no longer whirling around in your head. This makes them feel more manageable, plus you could list them in order of priority. It helps me to know what’s next on my plan for the day. Some people have different to do lists for the day, weeks, months. If you find your weeks slipping away from you, this could be a good idea to help you stay on track. Tip #3 Keep your environment tidy. A clean desk or workspace will allow you to focus more on your work, or task at hand. Have a declutter of your desk, and feel more comfortable in the space. It’s also good for office culture to maintain a tidy-ish desk if you share an office, as not everyone can focus with a cluttered desk. Tip #4 Use calendars, planners and online spaces to organise tasks. We’ve taken to using an online workspace called Notion here at Totally Branded. It’s allowed us to share all our meeting notes, plan our social media posts together and plot out our marketing strategy for the entire year. Of course, this has worked for us, but you could even get a wall calendar or physical diary and plan your time that way. Some people function better having things in writing. We have some branded desk calendars which have proven popular with customers in the past. As well as that, we have a wide range of branded diaries, including pocket sized diaries and larger A4 daily diaries. Tip #5 Take a break! Burn out is a real thing, and it can happen to anyone. If you don’t allow yourself time to decompress every day, things can easily pile on top of you and you’ll feel less motivated than you were when you started. It’s important to hit your targets, but nothing is as important as you. Look out for yourself first and everything else will fall into place. So, there you have it! Our 5 top tips for staying on track this year! We’ll definitely be implementing some of these in the office, especially #3!

Last Thursday (8th of December) Totally Branded took part in Save the Children's annual Christmas Jumper Day! Save the Children is a charity with a great cause, which is close to many of our hearts. With everything going on in the world, we decided we'd try and raise some much needed funds for the charity. Who are Save the Children? Save the Children is an international, non-governmental organisation, which was established over 100 years ago in the United Kingdom. Set up to improve the lives of children across the UK, through better education, health care, and much more, Save the Children is now a global movement. They provide food, support and care for children across 120 countries globally, as well as helping to provide emergency aid in times of natural disasters and conflict. Why "Christmas Jumper Day"? It’s a fun, festive way for millions of people across the country to join forces and raise money for a good cause. This is especially important at a time when globally, children need our more help than ever. Want to know one of the best things about Christmas Jumper Day 2022? For every £2 donated to the cause, the UK Government has promised to match it. How amazing is that!? Not only that, but it's a really fun, simple way of bringing your employees together this festive season. So, How Did it Go? We're very lucky to have a team that loves to get into the spirit of things! This Christmas Jumper Day was no different. Check out the gallery below to see the pictures from the day! Jack and Josh in the Studio Charlotte, Millie and our resident pup, Ralph. Ella and Charlotte down in the warehouse. Zoe and Liz in production Sam, from the fires of Mordor. Taylor, channeling Del Boy with his Only Fools and Horses jumper.   Amount Raised for Christmas Jumper Day, and How it Will Help? We have raised a total of £150 altogether. This will go towards helping children globally, with things like food, clothing and shelter. It could go towards medication or life-saving treatment for babies in Kenya, or even as far as providing medical equipment for hospitals and clinics. Missed the day? It’s not too late! You can donate directly to the cause via the Save the Children website. Thanks to all of the Totally Branded family for joining in on the day and helping to raise some money!

We're excited to be introducing a new member of the Totally Branded family! Meet Jack, he's going to be working in our ever-expanding embroidery department. Joining us about three weeks ago, Jack came from a job at Birds of Dereham. There he worked in a busy production workshop, embroidering dozens (and dozens) of products a day! Jack would call himself an ex-gamer, someone who likes to game but only when he finds the time! Juggling life, fatherhood and work, gaming is just an "as-and-when" kind of hobby. He’s a true 90’s kid and loves all things Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Sonic. We're pleased to have him here, and everyone is looking forward to receiving some great feedback from our customers! We asked Jack How he's Getting on: “So far, I’m really enjoying being part of team Totally Branded! Coming from a hectic workshop where I was on my feet all day to Totally Branded has been great. It’s still fast paced but it’s a more laid-back environment. There haven’t been any serious transition challenges because I love doing this job. I’m good at it and it’s an interesting, unique job for a unique person, like me. I consider myself a happy-go-lucky person and I hope my new colleagues can see that side of my personality too.” Then we asked him an important and highly controversial question... “The Scone debate: jam or cream first?” (Don’t laugh guys, it IS a very important question!) Jack says “I don’t often go for scones, but if I was going to, I’d say jam and then cream.” So, there you have it, our new embroiderer Jack decrees that its jam then cream, and we’re inclined to agree. Jack in his element with the embroidery machines going in the background. What our Finance Director, Trevor Stuart had to say “Jack came to the job with a wealth of experience and knowledge, and is undeniably putting it to good use already! This makes him an already highly valuable member of our ever-growing team. We hope Jack will be happy here in his new position at Totally Branded. He is a cheerful and dynamic character who will be an asset to our production department.” Welcome to Totally Branded! In other words, we're glad to have you on board with us at Totally Branded. We're without doubt that you'll fit in just fine around here!

This blog is for us to learn about the commonwealth games, when they first began and what's going on at this years event. 2022 saw the games begin with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham. It featured a performance inspired by the history of Birmingham, live music from Duran Duran, messages from Royalty; and the final passing of the commonwealth baton. The games are a quadrennial (every 4 years) multi-sport event; which includes athletes from across the commonwealth nations. First held in 1930, the games have been cancelled twice because of the Second World War. Since 2002, the games have included athletes with disabilities, making it the worlds first fully inclusive multi-sport event. The games are overseen by the "Commonwealth Games Federation". They choose host cities, control the sporting program and ultimately, decide who participates. What is the Commonwealth? The Commonwealth is a political association of 56 members, vastly made up of formerly-colonised countries from the British Empire days. Going back to the 20th century, when the Empire began to fall, and decolonisation began, the Commonwealth was formed. A declaration made in 1949 established that all member states were to be "free and equal" to one-another. Queen Elizabeth the 2nd is the current head of the common wealth, and is also head of state in 15 member states, which is known separately as the "Commonwealth Realms". The commonwealth charter declares that the member states share only values, and that they are not obligated to help each other. Some of their shared values are: democracy, human rights and rule of law; as well as shared values, the Commonwealth Games promote these shared values and allow the nations to come together and celebrate their differences now. What Events are at the Commonwealth Games? There are a range of events held at the games, for both able-bodied and non-able bodied athletes, including: Swimming Diving Cycling Gymnastics Netball Boxing and more! Who is Participating in the Common Wealth Games this Year? (2022) Many member states from across the continents are participating in this years Commonwealth Games, including countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific territories, Caribbean. Additionally, The Americas and Europe. To read the full list of participants, check out the official list over on the commonwealth games website. (Click here) Who Were the Winners of the Last Games? Australia won the previous Commonwealth games, with a massive 193 medals in total. England came in second with 132 medals and then India ranked third, with 64 medals in total. Our Part in This Years Commonwealth Games We're very proud to have had even a small role in the games. (well, that's a bit of a stretch. You didn't see any of us doing laps of the pool or track this year!) However, we did provide a customer with some extra important merchandise for the Commonwealth Games. We produced 100 of these fantastic "Team England" mugs for our client and had them delivered before the commencement of this years tournament. (After winning all those medals they'll need a cup of tea, won't they?!) You can get your own stylish branded mugs right here! As well as branded mugs, we also have a fantastic Sports Merchandise!

We recently produced a large summer merch pack for the well-known fast-food chain, Five Guys. They specialise in freshly prepared hot dogs, burgers and fries. Classic all-American food from a growing fast-food chain. Our team here at Totally Branded, we worked to produce branded merchandise for their summer themed event. The Story of Five Guys The story begins in Arlington, Virginia. The year was 1986. Jerry and Janie Murrell gave their 5 young sons a choice. “We start a family business, or you can go to college.” They chose to go into business, and thus, Five Guys was born! Named after the 5 sons Jim, Matt, Chad, Ben and Tyler, and they opened their first restaurant Arlington's Westmont Shopping Center. Over the last 36 years, the business has gone from strength to strength, spreading across the globe. All the way from the USA and Canada to the UK, Europe and beyond! Our Project Brief from Five Guys We were asked to produce a summer merch pack for the company, and used our product knowledge to help them choose the right products for the job. The pack included a Five Guys branded beach bag, as towel and a water bottle so that Five Guys employees can go to the beach in style this summer. On a separate order the company wanted some extras for their summer packs and chose branded beach balls and branded hand held fans. Beach Bag This promotional beach bag is perfect for summer events or work days out by the sea. Its spacious enough that it holds all your stuff, but will sit comfortably on your shoulder or in your hands with the rope handles. It’s a minimalist, sleek looking bag with a print on just one side either done digitally or via screen print. Our bag for Five Guys came in red with the five guys logo printed on it. It can be delivered in as little as 10 days which makes it a great product to get in now! Branded Water Bottle Our customer wanted branded water bottles as part of their summer pack, which is a great way to help keep people hydrated especially when the sun out! They decided on a red branded Banham Water Bottle because its lightweight but functional which is also BPA and PVC free! The bottle itself is transparent with a coloured lid and a matching logo on either one or two sides of the bottle. Including its fold down straw, this Tritan plastic bottle is great for those who are on the move and has a capacity of 725ml. Towel Our range of branded towels are great for portability and drying quickly, making any of them ideal for travelling as they fold down nice and small. They come in a range of colours like black, white, blue and more. Our customer opted for a black with a red embroidered design and a red towel with a white embroidered design. They were all expertly embroidered in-house by our embroidery team. Check out the "Sol's Atoll 30 Microfibre Guest Towel" Branded Beach Ball We have a range of beachballs, all of which are made from PVC so you know they’ll hold up on the beach! Perfect for throwing around with colleagues or friends in the sand. The popular summer item "Zeusty Beach Ball" comes in a range of colours, with alternating panels of white. The beach ball we created for Five Guys was white and red with their branding on it. It was the perfect match with their other summer themed promotional products. Branded Palma Solid Beach Ball What Did Our Customer from Five Guys Say? We can tell you again and again how great we think we are (if we do say so ourselves!) However, that's not what really matters, is it? What means more to you, as a potential customer is what our other customers think about us. Below is the review left by our customer for this project. Post-Five Guys Project: What's Next for Totally Branded? We remain busy, working hard on lots of projects for both large and small companies, including the O2, Parvalux, and the NHS. We have also been expanding our production facility and also growing our teams in-office too; despite all the changes we remain focused on our goal: To provide high quality branded promotional products to all of our customers. If you're looking for branded promotional merch, give us a try! Find out more about us here, or start shopping today!

What do we mean by “Retaining employees?” To "retain" something is to continue to have something. To retain employees is basically the idea of onboarding new staff and keeping them working happily for you. Employee retention can influence customers opinions, which can affect your business sales and growth. The higher your employee retention is, the more likely you are to have a successful business. Why is it Important to Retain Employees? It’s good for your reputation. The happier your employees are, the more likely they are to stay. This will improve or uphold your reputation in the public, and this can lead to a more successful business. The workforce will be more productive. The better place your business is to work, the more likely employees will be to work hard. The more productive your employees are the better your business will be. Happy staff = happy you! Ways to Retain Your Employees We understand that sometimes, things just don’t work out. However if you’re looking to retain staff, there is plenty that you can do as an employer to help. Being supportive and understanding of your employees can go a long way to getting them to trust you. If they trust you then they will be more likely to work hard and support you right back. Besides, everyone has bad days! The more support you show for them on their bad days the happier they will feel at the company. Get to know your employees. They’re all individuals and everyone should be celebrated for their unique personalities and skills. You might find more than just a good, hardworking, employee, you might even find a friend. A staff day out or an office-based treat would make them feel appreciated, and help them to build relationships with each other. If employees are friendly and comfortable with each other, then they will most likely work better together as well. Keeping your business running like a well-oiled machine. Free company merch can help employees feel like part of the team, and show them they’re wanted. You could supply new starters with their uniform, and also some company merchandise, a water bottle, or branded desk supplies. Here at Totally Branded, everyone gets a mug with their name on when they start! (We get desk accessories, too!) Staff Appreciation Day is a day that rolls around once a year, specifically for employers to make a big deal of all their employees and to show them how much they’re appreciated. It’s usually on the first Friday of March. We actually already have a blog about “Staff Appreciation Day”, there you can find advice on what to do for the day, and even some links to our best corporate gifts! 4 Day Work Weeks Improve Employee Work-Life Balance The idea of a 4 day work weeks have been trialled in other countries and were found to be successful. Iceland was one of the leading countries in the trials, which ran from 2015 – 2019. Workers were paid the same salaries as before, worked shorter weeks but productivity stayed the same, or improved.The trial, run by Reykjavik City Council and the national Government included 2,500 workers and a range of workplaces. Including preschools, offices, and service providers. Many of the workers taking place in the trial moved from a 40 hour or more work week down to a 35-hour work week. Independent researchers from a UK based thinktank found that the people taking part in the trial were less stressed and many said that they felt their work-life balance was better. The success of the trial led Iceland’s Unions to negotiate working patterns with the Government and now 86% of workers in Iceland have moved to a 4-day work week for the same salary, or have the right to. Now, this isn’t to say that every company should switch to a 4-day work week, but it is to say that working hours should be flexible and dependent on the staff member. Employers should take employee needs into account and allow for a more adaptable work schedule. Want Some Company Branded Merchandise to Aid Employee Retention? Company branded merch is great for onboarding new team members and helps you to retain employees. It can be used as part of a welcome pack or to make them feel like part of a proper team! Check out these great examples below! Full Colour Printed Mugs Why not get some branded company mugs? You can even get some branded with your employees names and tea/coffee order on them. That way, you’ll know how to make ‘Jackie’ a brew without even having to ask! Individually name printed mugs Laptop Sleeve 15.6 A handy branded laptop case would be great for when your employees are flexi-working between the office and home. They will be able to easily transport their equipment to and from while keeping their all-important technology safe from damage. Geo Copper Vacuum Insulated Tumbler Another branded piece of merchandise that could be a great help to your employees! Keep them going throughout the day with an insulated cup to make sure their coffees are hot and their hearts are warm.   Wooden MDF Coaster All those cups and insulated tumblers, employees will need something to stand them on! Get some custom printed coasters, this will keep the office desks looking clean and stain free and give employees more pride in their space! Printed Fabric Mouse Mats These serve a great purpose when working with computers all day, there's nothing worse than an unresponsive mouse. It can delay work and cause unnecessary stress. The solution? A mat will give your computer mouse a smooth surface to glide over. Stationary Pens and Post-it notes should be an office essential! Luckily, we have a wide variety for you to choose from, including budget friendly pens and executive pens. Our Post-it notes range from the classic colourful squares through to the uniquely shaped and custom printed! Check out our sticky notes here! Final Tips to Help you to Retain Employees? Reward Systems! when a member of the team does well, celebrate them! Offer training programmes! Allow them to gain invaluable knowledge and maybe even qualifications from the job. This is a great incentive. Be a brand they can be proud of. It’s all well and good being nice to your employees, but how you represent yourself in the wider community will make them feel proud to work for you. Help some local charities or take a stand on important issues, such as the environment or equality.

We Have Been Busy Expanding at Totally Branded This Spring! Spring brings new life, new opportunities and chances to grow, not only in nature! We have been building our team across all departments throughout winter and into spring. Ready for a prosperous year! We have invested in new employees, new technology, and have been unboxing brand-new machines! (Did someone say cap printing?) This will allow us to be better service-providers to our customers. One of our new machines is the long-awaited Cap printing machine! This makes printing designs on hats and caps much easier, and gives our customers another option for their branded caps; instead of just embroidered caps. The Benefits of an in-house Cap Press: Our own production operatives fulfil your order. This means we can offer a more personal service; ensuring that each of your caps are printed skilfully and to the highest standard. There is a no minimum order quantity with our in-house branded products. Customers can buy just one, or they can by lots! Its totally up to them. Not only that but with our new machine, caps can be more detailed as we use a special transfer paper; so your logo can be printed in full colour onto the cap. This is not something we can achieve with embroidered caps. By not out-sourcing jobs, we can cut down customer waiting time and any shipping issues. The product will be directly from our door to yours; will have been quality checked and expertly packed by us. This will significantly reduce the risk of shipping delays and customer dissatisfaction. Another brilliant benefit of shipping from us to you, is the reduction of potential airfreight costs and air miles. This reduces our carbon footprint and is good for the environment. How Our New Cap Printing Production Works: A skilled print production operative will set up machine and place the plain cap on the bottom plate Trim the screen or digital transfer to size and place carefully onto the plain cap. Pull down the upper plate of the cap printing machine using the lever and wait for timer to count down. The timer sounds and the press releases, allowing the Production Operative to remove the hat and repeat. This is a quick process and gives us a great turn around on our printed caps. What Do our Merchandise Consultant's think? You might be wondering what this means to you, and why you should care. As a business we want to always be improving our service to you, we listen to our customers and understood the need for a speedy cap branding process that allows for intricate designs. We thought we'd speak to one of our valued merchandise consultants, Jack, to see what he thinks about the new cap printing capability that we have at in house facility, and what that means for our customers. Jack says "The new cap press is a great investment for Totally Branded as there is a high demand of printed caps; especially this time of year. It allows our customers to have a more intricate design printed onto their caps with more colour options, too. There is also lower minimum order quantity and shorter lead times which ultimately means our customers will receive high quality service in better time. Sometimes designs aren't very well suited for embroidery and it is great to be able to make this suggestion for our customers." Want to Buy Your Own Printed Caps? Check out the "Beechfield Original 5 Panel Cap Black" for a budget-friendly cap which is better for the environment and allows you to have more creative freedom, or alternatively; click here to look at our entire cap selection.

World Password Day is coming up, and while we can’t protect your passwords ourselves, we can share with you some information about staying safe online and keeping those all-important details private! What is world Password Day? Passwords are essential to keeping our online profiles safe; these profiles hold our personal details and give access to our online “life” and bank details. Someone accessing any of these details could potentially ruin our lives. World Password Day came into being to provide a warning to the world and to spread awareness that taking care of your passwords is vital to protecting yourself against identity theft. This day reminds us of the importance of passwords and the role they play in making sure we keep hold of our lives and identity. Thieves are everywhere and a good, strong password is your first digital line of defence. How to Stay Safe Online We have scoured the internet for some of the best hints and tips and most important to remember facts about staying safe online! Read on to find out more! Use a Strong Password Create a strong password by using lots of characters, at least 15. Use a mix of characters, upper and lower case, numbers, symbols. Don’t substitute letters for numbers e.g “Doorbell” or “D00R8377”. Don’t use memorable keyboard paths like "12345", or "qwerty". You could even use the multiple word phrase method, for example: business, historical figures, words in another language. The sentence method is another good method to creating a strong password, to do this you think of a sentence that is relevant to you and use the first two letters of every word. Hard to guess but easy for you to remember. Have Good Anti-Virus Software Anti-virus software is a program that is on your computer or laptop that is designed to prevent, search for and detect and remove unwanted malware and other data viruses. It’s important to have a good anti-virus software because without it your computer is at risk of cyber-attack every day. According to DataProt, an independent review site that is dedicated to safeguarding people's online security, 560,000 new pieces of malware are detected every day. Being unprotected from online viruses leaves your personal information and important data at risk too. Use Two Factor Authentication Two factor authentication works by adding and additional layer of security to your online accounts. It requires another login credential beyond just your username and password such as a code that is sent to you confidentially via text message or another code word. Be Cautious of What You Download Some internet downloads, especially if they're free, can be malicious. Make sure whatever you download is from a well trusted website or source. Don’t click on Suspicious Links If you receive a link via email, text or otherwise from an unknown sender, do not click on the link as it could be potentially a phishing scam, where they attempt to get your personal details or passwords. Keep Your Webcam Covered Keeping your webcam covered may seem a little over the top, but it is better safe than sorry when it comes to keeping your life private. It’s becoming easier and easier for hackers to hack into your webcam, or home surveillance cameras. Best keep them covered up when you’re not using them. Webcam Hacking? Is it possible? Yes! Also known as Camfecting, it is the act of gaining access to someones webcam and turning it on without their knowledge. The operator can then view all that the camera can see, that includes you! Our security products Here at Totally Branded, we offer a range of high-quality webcam covers and other online security products. These are ideal for companies that are looking to protect their staff, themselves and their customers.  Webcam Cover This popular Privacy Webcam Cover is a best-selling webcam cover thanks to it's full colour printed option, and the fact they're available with a no minimum order quantity.  Digital Privacy Kit This great digital privacy kit comes with a helpful USB date blocker which will prevent any data exchange through your laptop or computer when connecting to a mobile device or USB plug in. This will in turn stop any potential malware from being transferred though devices. The kit also comes with a webcam cover which protects your privacy; and an audio jack blocker which will prevent 3rd parties listening to your conversations. Stay Safe Online! We hope you found this blog helpful, and continue to stay safe online!  

Throughout the year there are a couple of days of official recognition for our educators; but we think we should show appreciation for teachers everyday! Teacher's Day U.S National Teachers Day is coming up on the 3rd of May. While we aren’t U.S based, we thought we’d take the opportunity to celebrate all teachers globally; ahead of any teacher related days happening this year. FYI: World Teacher Day is on the 5th of October It's great to have an official day where we can recognise all the hard work of teachers and educators. We can simply say thank you, or give them a gift as a small token of appreciation. In the UK, this time of year can be quite stressful at school. Older students are about to sit their exams and important tests; and the younger ones are in the lead up to Summer Holidays, which is exciting to say the least! Shaping young minds is no easy feat and they’re not always the most co-operative; but if you have a great teacher that you think deserves to feel appreciated, why not tell them? Where Does Teacher Appreciation Day Come From? The Answer to this question depends on which of the days we are talking about.“National Teacher Day” on the 5th of May is also known as “National Teacher Appreciation Day”. It falls in the first week of May and was brought in by Eleanor Roosevelt; who convinced the 81st congress to proclaim a recognised teachers day in 1953. By 1985, the U.S National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May; with Tuesday that week being the official Teacher Day. “World Teachers Day” is on October 5th which was founded by UNESCO in 1994. UNESCO is the “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”. They are an agency within the UN aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences, and culture. This day was to recognise the set guidelines for teachers' rights and responsibilities of schools and other educational facilities. How Can we Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day? As a branding company, we stock all kinds of products that could work as “Teacher Appreciation Day” gifts, and they can have the school's logo on them too, so the teacher will feel like part of a team! Read below to see some of our most popular branded products that we think would be great additions to your classrooms / school. Teacher Appreciation Products Velbond Tassel Bookmark A classic style bookmark with tassels, made from PU and a recycled leather back; they look great when embossed with a logo or crest and have an air of luxury about them, and available in a range of colours too! These are a really simple yet thoughtful gift to give to teachers and students alike which will also encourage reading amongst the students and the staff. Reading is a great way for people to expand their minds and unwind after a long day in the classroom. Recycled House Shape Note Dispenser This house shaped sticky notes dispenser is a fun and colourful way to assist teachers in their marking process, they can colour code by the sticky notes and have fun with it.   A5 Mole Notebook Available in a variety of colours these fantastic lined notebooks are a good product for all teachers to keep their important notes in. Quad 4 colour pen These 4 colour pens have multiple individual inks in the barrel which are interchangeable with a simple push on the coloured levers. These mutli-colour pens are ideal for teachers who like to use different colour inks in their marking of homework and essays. The pen comes with black, blue, red and green inks. 5 Day Express 15mm Lanyard A school branded lanyard for all staff at the school is a great way to help them keep track of their room key, swipe cards and all their other important little items like USB sticks with lesson plans on etc. Geo Copper Vacuum Insulated Tumbler A stainless steel insulated tumbler would be ideal to give to teachers, they can keep their hands and tummy warm drinking a nice brew while on playground duty at break time or on their way to work in the morning. Once again, this product will go a long way to helping them feel appreciated with a useful thoughtful gift. These come in a gift box which is perfect for gifting to individual staff. We have an entire category on our website dedicated to finding you products you can be proud of at school! Take a look at the "Schools and Colleges" category to see what you can't find. Happy Appreciation Day, Teachers of the World! You don’t have to get your teachers anything for the day, it’s just a nice gesture to show them how appreciated they are. However, a simple “thankyou” goes a long way! It’s good for teachers to feel appreciated and know that they're doing their jobs properly. If they know their students are happy they will feel happier too. Thank you to all teachers for all the hard work you do, from Totally Branded.

Easter is just around the corner! Read all about the meaning of Easter, it’s many traditions, and some Totally Branded Easter products that will make your Easter even more “egg-cellent!” When is Easter, and What Does Easter Mean? This year, Easter Sunday is the 17th of April. The week leading up to Easter Sunday is known as Holy Week; with the Friday before being known as “Good Friday”.Easter is a religious holiday, observed by Christians across the world. Good Friday is thought to be the day that Jesus, the son of God, gave his life for our sins. He died on the cross at the hands of the Romans, and was resurrected 3 days later, on Easter Sunday. The day has many traditions and different connotations for all who celebrate it.In the UK and other European or American countries there might be church services or the exchange of gifts and chocolate, but usually also a great feast. This is because Lent ends the day before Easter Sunday. Lent is the fasting of rich, luxurious foods for 40 Days and Nights. Those that practice Lent will give up dairy and eggs and other luxuries to observe the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. (Read our Pancake Day Blog here!)The Spring Equinox, which usually falls just before Easter also welcomes in a new season, Spring. This is the season of rebirth and growth after a long and dark winter. Even before Christianity, this season was celebrated. For Pagans, this time of year was important because the Sun “returned” and Eggs became a symbol of new life, fertility, birth and growth. (think: Spring is when birds begin to nest and mate.) Over the many years, these customs merged with the Church’s customs and the exchange of decorated or dyed eggs as gifts became common place across the globe, with the meanings and ideas changing, adding to an already rich story. The Easter Egg Hunt  Something that became a massive part of Easter weekend is the Easter Egg hunt. It is said to date back to 16th Century Germany. A man named Martin Luther held egg hunts at the church for his congregation, where the women and children would look for eggs that the men hid. This practice is symbolic of the women who discovered that Jesus’ tomb was empty after the resurrection.   The Chocolate Egg  As discussed, the symbolism of the egg dates back to before Christianity. However, wasn’t until the 19th Century that Chocolate Eggs became a popular treat around this time of year. Prior to this, chocolate was a very new product; the first chocolate eggs were solid and not made from the finest of eating chocolate. According to Chocolate Trading Co, the “easter egg” as we know it owes its existence to Dutch inventor Van Houten, who invented a press that could separate Cocoa Butter from the Cocoa bean; and the Cadbury brothers who introduced pure cocoa to the industry in 1866. This turned out to be the secret to moulding any good eating chocolate into its desired shape. The Easter Bunny  The origins of the “Easter Bunny” date back to Pagan times. At this time of year, Pagans celebrated the Spring, the Sun and the Goddess of dawn and fertility, Eostre; who usually took the form of an egg or hare.A more modern theory of the Easter Bunny and its origins come from 1600’s Germany, where writings about a the “Oschter Haws” or Easter Hare, was believed to lay a nest of colourful eggs for children who were well-behaved. This tradition then moved across Europe and beyond as people began to move more freely throughout the continents. (Country Living) Need an Easter Gift?  We’ve got you covered! You can gift your staff or colleagues a lovely treat to help remind them how important they are to you and the business, or they’d make great Easter themed treats for your customers. Check out our entire range here, but let me show you our favourites below!  Easter Mini Creme Egg Box The “Easter Mini Creme Egg Box” contains a single delicious Cadburys Crème Egg, this cardboard box can be branded in full colour with your design or logo! These make great tokens or gifts to show your appreciation for your staff this Springtime. Easter Organza Bag with Mini Eggs We stock these lovely smaller bags with 10 individual milk chocolate Cadburys Mini Eggs inside. The organza bag is made from a sheer synthetic fabric, but can be reused again and again for anything after the eggs are gone. It comes with a full colour branded label, ideal for handing out to customers or passers-by during an Easter event or in the lead up to an event. Mallow Mountain with Speckled Egg This tasty treat comes in an eco-friendly cardboard pyramid box, which is branded in full colour with your design or logo. Inside sits a chocolate covered, mountain shaped marshmallow, coated in a sweet milk chocolate and topped with a Mini Egg. Keep your employees sweet with this marshmallow treat! Hollow Chocolate Eggs in a Box  This little egg carton comes with four tasty, colourful foil wrapped chocolate eggs. The carton is held closed with a sleeve which can be branded with your logo in full colour! Easter Egg Gift Box  The “Easter Egg Gift Box” contains a little something for everyone, no matter their taste! So, these would be a great gift for your staff if you’re not sure what they all like. They contain 1 Cadbury’s crème egg, 8 small foil wrapped chocolate eggs in an organza bag, 6 delicious chocolate truffles, and a 12-baton chocolate bar, all products can be individually wrapped and branded with your company’s logo, as well as the box exterior.  Easter Wishes At this time of rebirth and reflection as Spring rolls in, we would like to take this time to think about what we have and what we are grateful for. Thank you to all of our staff, friends, family and our amazing customers. Happy Easter from all of us at Totally Branded! We hope no matter how you celebrate it, you have a great weekend, enjoy your post-Lent feast and we hope the “Oschter Haws” comes and leaves behind lots of delicious eggs for you to munch on.  Here’s to Spring!

The Queens Reign Her Majesty the Queen is the longest reigning British monarch in history. The upcoming Jubilee will be her Platinum Jubilee, which will commemorate 70 years on the throne. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded the throne in 1952 when her father, King George VI passed away. Her coronation was in June 1953 – over a year after the King had passed. This is due to the rules around leaving an appropriate amount between death of a Monarch and holding such celebrations.The Queen has reigned through major political changes. For example, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and decolonisation of Africa. She also witnessed the UK join and withdraw from the EU (1973-2020). Prior to becoming Queen, she lived and worked through the Second World War. Working within the armed forces she trained as a driver and mechanic; and was given the rank of honorary junior commander.Throughout the last few years the Queen has been steadfast in her support for the country; and the NHS. Especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic, even while suffering the loss of her husband, Prince Phillip. She has been vocal about her grief which in a way brought the public closer to the Royal Family. A Platinum Jubilee The Platinum Jubilee is on the 2nd of June 2022 and will be celebrated across the nation; as well as throughout the commonwealth. This Jubilee marks 70 years on the throne, which is a record-breaking reign in this Kingdom. Because of the significance of this Jubilee and the age of Her Majesty, plans for big celebrations are underway. There is some events in lead up to the Jubilee; which ends in a culmination of a 4-day Bank Holiday for the UK. Jubilee Celebration Timeline 2nd of June Trooping the Colour will begin at 10am on the Thursday, commencing the bank holiday celebrations. This is a spectacular parade, with over 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians.In the evening, Jubilee beacons will light up throughout the UK at 9:15pm exactly. For the first time, Commonwealth countries will also light a beacon to celebrate the Jubilee. (left to right) The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, in central London, following the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade as the Queen celebrates her official birthday in 2016. 3rd of June A Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Here she will be accompanied by other members of the Royal Family.  4th of June The Queen will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs, accompanied by members of the Royal Family. Later that day, the Platinum Party at the Palace will take place. The BBC will hold a special concert that will be broadcast live from Buckingham Palace. The Concert will bring together some of the world’s biggest stars to celebrate the Queen. 5th of June The final day of the bank holiday weekend communities up and down the nation partaking in “The Big Lunch”. This is an idea that was born in 2009, by The Eden Project. Often taking the form of a street party, the whole community can get together and celebrate. (Historically held on jubilees or national celebrations). The Big Lunch, this year called “The Big Jubilee Lunch” to encourage community connections and to celebrate the Queen. Residents of Kassassin Street in Southsea enjoy their street party which they held for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Picture: Ian Hargreaves Also happening on the 5th of June is the The Platinum Jubilee Pageant. Artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, and more will unite to tell the story of The Queen’s 70-year reign. How to get Involved in the Jubilee Celebrations? Over 1400 people all across the UK have registered to host Big Jubilee Lunches so far! Why not see if there’s one happening in your area that you can join, or throw one of your own! You could even have a BBQ or picnic at home with family. Some people have been fortunate enough to get tickets to exclusive events taking place in London. Those of us who haven’t got tickets will be able to watch the events broadcasted on TV. How Will Totally Branded Celebrate the Queen? All of our staff here at Totally Branded are looking forward to the 4-day bank holiday weekend. Some of us will be having tea parties with friends and family, or garden parties to celebrate the occasion.As a company, our way of celebrating is helping you have the best Jubilee events possible. To make sure your Jubilee celebration goes off without a hitch, we are now stocking some brilliant Jubilee products. Perfect Jubilee Products What’s more British than tea? We got in a special Jubilee Tea Bag for the big day! These are perfect for your “Big Jubilee Lunch” table; or for handing out at a jubilee event over the weekend. Everyone, raise your cups and saucers to Her Majesty.   The perfect thing to go with your lovely cup of tea? A biscuit! (Or two). We have the delicious “Jubilee Chocolate Digestive” to go hand in hand with our Jubilee branded tea bags.  As an alternative and more practical item to commemorate the Jubilee with, we have a “Platinum Jubilee Bookmark“. Ideal as a keepsake of the momentous day.  Kick off your party with a pop! Branded Party Poppers which come fully branded with a logo of your choice. (Including the Jubilee logo) Bunting originally referred to a specific type of woollen fabric. It was used for making ribbon and flags at the beginning of the 17th century; including signal flags for the Royal Navy. Throughout time, especially in the UK, bunting has become a staple of our celebration décor.Why not grab yourself some of our Triangular Synthetic Buntings, branded with the Jubilee logo to brighten up your street party? You can get the whole street involved in hanging some!  Here’s to 70 Years! Thank you to the Queen for serving our nation for 70 years, and congratulations for achieving all you have during your momentous reign. As for everyone else: have a great bank holiday from all of us at Totally Branded. Queen Elizabeth II tours Queen Mother Square on October 27, 2016, in Poundbury, Dorset.

What is Crufts? Crufts is one of the largest (and best) dog events in the world. Organised by The Kennel Club, the event celebrates dogs of all shapes, breeds and sizes.  Originally founded by Charles Cruft in 1891, the event as grown exponentially since. Crufts looks very different to how it did back then. In 1938, Cruft passed away, and Emma Cruft (His wife) began to organise the event. Ten years later in 1948, she handed the baton to The Kennel Club. Despite all of these changes; the core meaning of the event is still and always has been to celebrate dogs of all kinds.   The Kennel Club is an organisation that promotes healthy, well-loved, well-bred dogs and the all-round wellbeing of every dog. What’s On? There are lots of events to get involved in at Crufts; from Agility to Flyball and Obedience trials. Crufts also has an event for Working Dogs and Heelwork to music; all of these events aim to celebrate dogs and their achievements alongside their best friends. There is a rescue dog category; categories for young people from age 6 – 24 as well. As well as all these events, there is a chance to talk to verified Kennel Club breeders; and dog rescue charities and training experts. If you’re looking for a souvenir from your time at Crufts, there are traders there selling their wares. Whether you’re looking for specific dog-themed gifts or products for your dog, Crufts will probably have it.   The Competitors The last couple of years has brought a lot of uncertainty’ into our lives and world; and with that, event cancellations. Crufts didn’t run in 2021, this meant that this years event and contestants had to be spectacular, and they didn’t disappoint! On day 1 of Crufts 2022, there were some fantastic winners. A Siberian Husky, registered as “Siberiadrift Keep The Love For Zimavolk JW ShCM” for the Working Dog category.  For the Pastoral dog category, the winner was a Border Collie by the name of “Etched in the Sand by the Lake”  Day 2 saw the Terrier and Hound category presented and judged. Victorious were the Irish Terrier “Turith Adonis” and the Greyhound, “Ina’s Fashion Desirable.”  Day 3 was Utility and Toy dogs presentation day, which saw some of the sweetest dogs in the competition. They can’t all win. In first place for the Utility category, a Toy Poodle named “Afterglow Agent Orange”. (His friends call him “Waffle”). The Toy category winner was “Conan” who has the fanciest registered name, which is “Royal Precious JP F4 Conan”. On Day 4; the winner is announced. An adorable flat coated retriever known as “Baxer” won! His registered name is “Almanza Backseat Driver”. He also won the category of Gundog on the 4th day – winning over the judges twice in one day! Well done, Baxer!   You may have noticed that these dogs have some pretty whacky names. This is because purebred competing dogs have a registered name, and a call name. The registered name is the long, fancy one, usually with an ode to the owner or breeder; the dogs lineage or other information. The call name is the name you call them every day. Baxer and his owner, Patrick with their trophy! Our Doggy Products In honour of Crufts 2022 and all dogs everywhere, we thought we’d show off some of our dog-friendliest brandable products. Our Branded Plastic Dog Frisbee is made from PE plastic is strong and durable and is bound to stand the test of time against your furry friends gnashers. Available in a range of colours, it can be branded with your logo or design in up to 4 colours via screen print. Our Branded Dog bandanas are made of polyester, a durable and easy to wash material. Branded via dye sublimination in a repeat pattern, your dog is likely to be the most stylish dog in the park. We also stock a reflective, adjustable bandana. Keep your best friend safe with the fluorescent yellow and reflective strip bandana. This one is branded via screen print in on the front of the bandana.   Dog Bandana Our Branded Dog Waste Bag Dispensers are ideal to have attached to your bag or belt loop when out on a walk. Don’t get caught short without a waste bag for your dog, carry this with you and you’ll be sure to have what you need. They are branded with your logo via pad print in 1 – 2 colours; available in the base colours of red, blue or white.   We have more doggy themed (and other pets) products, check out the Veterinary Promotional Merchandise section on our website!  And we want to give a quick shout-out to the lovely French Bulldog, Ralph. A model employee, Ralph pictured at the very top of this blog. He didn’t compete in Crufts, but he’s always a winner in our books.

International Women’s Day is a global civil awareness day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. (Or just because they work hard and we love them.) We celebrate this day on the 8th of March every year.This is an important day to celebrate for a number of reasons, showing our appreciation for the women in our lives and celebrating their achievements. Acknowledging International Womens Day will also help raise awareness of gender inequality and bring people’s attention to the need for gender parity.  International Womens Day usually has a different yearly theme, this year’s theme is “Break the Bias.” Unfortunately, bias in the workplace, in politics and even in social situations is common, and it can prevent women from moving forward in their careers or personal lives and hold them back. The History of International Women’s Day Throughout history, women have taken it on themselves to fight for their rights, make their voices heard. In 1908, 15,000 women marched in NYC to demand better pay, less hours and improved working conditions. This wasn’t classed as international women’s day, but widely accepted as one of the first female led demonstrations that lead to IWD.  In 1910, Clara Zetkin, Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany proposed that once year in every country, there should be a day set aside for women to press for their demands. Whether from their employers, their government or generally from society. This idea was met with almost unanimous approval and thus, International Women’s Day was born.The following year, the day was honoured for the first time, and while this was a huge step in the fight for equality for all, there was still a long way to go.   By 1975, the United Nations officially celebrated International Womens Day, and all member states participated with rallys and marches in solidarity and celebration. Just over two decades later, the UN announced the first themed IWD, which was “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”. Themed IWD’s would continue until the present day, the idea was to bring specific ideas around women’s equality into the limelight. Themes would give event campaigners something to focus on in the lead up to the day.   In 2011, on the 100 year anniversary of International Womens Day, President Barack Obama named March as “Womens History Month” and called on American citizens to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of Women. It is with support of those in high up positions, like President Obama and his counterparts from other countries, that the true issues faced by the everyday woman can be rectified.   In 2022, it’s clear to see we have come a long way since the first IWD in 1911. However, there is still a long way to go. The Women of Totally Branded What better way to acknowledge this day and celebrate the women in our lives than by telling you about the women at Totally Branded, who they are as individuals and what they do here.  Dianne   Dianne came to Totally Branded in 2018, and since starting here has worked in a variety of roles across the company. From Sales Account Manager to working within our embroidery team, she has just recently transferred into our accounts department. Always on the go, Dianne is busy sorting out all of our paperwork, invoices and anything else you can think of finance related. Dianne moved with her family and Totally Branded from Essex to Norfolk; where they are working on expanding the business and renovating and decorating their new house. When she’s not working, Dianne enjoys gardening, shopping and cleaning.   Left to Right: Flo, Lucy, Dianne, Ella Charlotte  Charlotte started here at Totally Branded back in June 2020, working as an account manager. (This means she’s one of the lovely people you speak to on the phone if you call us.) Charlotte’s role involves handling of customer enquiries about our merchandise and managing your orders. Charlotte recently became a homeowner, where she gets to raise her adorable French Bulldog, Ralph. Before she came to us at Totally Branded, she worked in a solicitor’s doing conveyancing. When she’s not working, Charlotte likes to spend time with her family and friends.  Ella Ella started at Totally Branded in August 2021, she began within our sales team but moved into production where she found she was able to be more creative and energetic. In production, she does a little bit of everything, from printing mugs, coasters and t-shirts to expertly packing your orders. Most importantly Ella keeps the morale of the other staff high, even on our busiest days. Before starting at Totally Branded, Ella studied Health and Social care at The College of West Anglia in Kings Lynn. When she’s not at work, Ella likes to meet up with her friends, go to concerts, festivals, clubs and generally celebrate life.  Lucy  Lucy started at Totally Branded in January 2022 within our Embroidery team. She has since worked on thousands of on embroidered clothing orders since then. Orders that need embroidering are completed by Lucy; then shipped to you. Before starting with us, Lucy completed a Fashion Textiles Design degree at De Montfort University, in Leicester. (No wonder Lucy is the master of the embroidery machine!) When she’s not at work Lucy likes to go on adventures, walking or hiking and generally loves being in nature.   Zoe  Zoe works within our DTG Print team, and the most recent member of the team here at Totally Branded! DTG means “direct to garment”, so the machine Zoe operates machinery which prints your logos and designs directly to tote bags; t-shirts and a variety of other fabric products. Before starting with us at Totally Branded Zoe was in further education studying music and business. When she’s not hard at work, Zoe plays the drums and takes care of her house plants.   Flo I started at Totally Branded in early February this year, and I love being part of the team! I’m a Content Marketing Executive which means I write content for our website, including our blog! (Now you know who’s been writing the blogs!) Before I started at Totally Branded, I was finishing off my Master’s degree at Cambridge School of Art. When I’m not writing blogs, I like to draw and paint, and I also volunteer at the local community centre.   Happy International Women’s Day! We’d like to wish all the women we know, personally or professionally a very happy International Women’s Day! We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating each other, today and every day.

What is Staff Appreciation Day? Staff Appreciation Day is technically an unofficial American holiday. Employers up and down the nation set aside one day a year to show their staff how much they appreciate them and make them feel like part of the team. The Holiday itself is yet to be fully recognised as a global day, and not all companies across the US actually partake in the celebrations, but it is slowly catching on, in the US and across the world. Especially since the pandemic began, appreciating our staff and colleagues has become a more widely discussed subject.  The idea was coined by Dr Bob Nelson, initially to celebrate the publication of his book “1,001 Ways to Reward Employees” and to remind employers to thank their employees.  When is it? Staff Appreciation Day falls on the first Friday in March – making this year’s holiday the 4th of march!  Ways to Celebrate the Day Some of the top ways to celebrate and appreciate staff is as simple as a gift bag filled with company merchandise or handing out their favourite tasty treats! Other companies have gone a few steps further and taken their staff out to lunch, or given them a half day, or even brought in a guest speaker to talk about wellbeing and encourage mindfulness.  You could even give out fun awards to make your staff feel recognised for the things they do as individuals, not just as employees. Something you notice they do that isnt really their job but they do it anyway, even if it is a simple task! For example “The Member of Staff who always waters the office plants.” (You’d have to have office plants to give this award out!) Perhaps you could organise a happy hour during work hours, where staff can socialise and mingle, which will help reduce stress and keep office tensions at bay. If everyone knows one another people will be more likely to get on.  Why Should We Participate in it?  Despite “Staff Appreciation Day” not being a recognised UK holiday, we thought “Why not share the love?” and get your staff some treats? (Though of course, we appreciate all our staff every day!)  Showing appreciation for your staff is important not just for their confidence and overall happiness in the role, but it’s good for your business too! The happier staff are, the harder they will work, meaning the better your business will run. Getting them a gift or a treat, big or small can help boost morale of the entire work force. This will also help them feel like they’re part of a team, a family – and something bigger than themselves. Looking for the perfect Branded Gift for your staff?  There are plenty of things to choose from on our website that make great gifts for all members of staff. They won’t break the bank nor exclude anyone; it will show your team that while you may not always show it, you do appreciate them. Our Branded Mug and Chocolate gift set comes in a magnetic closing box, branded in full colour with your logo. The mug inside is a branded Cambridge Mug; along with a small Organza bag containing silver and gold milk chocolate balls. We can personalise the mugs with the names of the employee and even have them delivered to each recipient individually!   We also stock some amazing drinks bottles, and what better way to show your staff that you care about them, by encouraging them to stay hydrated with a personalised branded bottle. Our “Tide Insulated Vacuum Bottles” are a brilliant choice for this. It can be personalised in full colour, has a capacity of 500ml, comes in a range of colours, is leak proof AND insulated! This means the contents stays colder (or warmer) for longer! We also supply personalised gift boxes for these, which fit the Tide branded bottles in perfectly and can be branded in full colour and recycled later on!  Branded Mug and Chocolates Gift Set If you’re not sure what your staff might want, then you could get them the “Branded Merchandise Gift Pack – Essentials”. This box comes with an A5 Mole Notebook; Mole Mate Soft Feel Pen, Evelyn Bottle, Wooden Square Coaster, Mint Card and 55ml Bottle of Hand Sanitiser. This can all be branded with your company logo, providing your staff with a few special items. This will make them all feel like they’re part of the same important team! (Which they are!)  Do a lot of your staff commute? Perhaps you could provide them with a really handy, stylish and sustainable way to transport their morning caffeine fix. One of our best sellers is the “Oregon Travel Mug“! It comes in a range of funky colours on the base, handle, top band and lid. The metal cup and can be branded in up to 4 colours, perfect to match with your company colours. The capacity is 450ml, so will be sure to keep your staff fuelled for a long time!   Breakfast Gift Box We saved our favourite choice for last! All of us here LOVE breakfast and we are sure that you and your staff do to! Start the day off right with a hearty “Breakfast Gift Box” for all your staff. Enjoy at home, in the office or at the desk.It contains a butter, jam, marmalade, Nutella, a croissant, a tea bag and an orange juice. What a great selection! For an additional 25p (per box) you can add a personalised message card! This will make each of your employees feel appreciated and cared for first thing!  Here’s to Employees, Everywhere! So whether you celebrate your staff on “Staff Appreciation Day” or every day; you know you’ll always find something for them at Totally Branded.

We all love a party, don’t we? All of us at Totally Branded do, and we’ve been so excited to start celebrating again that we decided to compile a list of our must have party products for your post-lockdown party.A knee’s up, a shindig, a social gathering, or work event. Whatever you choose to call it, we want to help you take it to the next level! Balloons It’s not a party without balloons! Balloons are one of our best sellers, they’re fun, bright and can be taken home afterwards (Hours of entertainment!)1. If you’d like a balloon that can be printed in full colour with your design or logo; is biodegradable (We love an eco-conscious party planner!) then take a look at the “Full Colour Printed 12′ Biodegradable Rubber Balloon”. They’re budget friendly and make a great addition to any balloon filled party hall.  2. We do also have the Extra Large 3ft Printed Balloons, they’re 3 ft when fully inflated and made of latex, a totally natural material which does decompose eventually. They can be printed with a one colour design; and come in a range of colours to choose from. Wristbands Are you holding a really exclusive event, one you want your guests to remember? Then you need to hand out wristbands! They’re a keepsake from your event, and good for keeping an event totally exclusive, no wristband no entry!  3. The 19mm Tyvek Material Wristband is a classic concert or club wristband, its self-adhesive and comes numbered sequentially and in a range of colours.  4. We also have the more upmarket “15mm Wristband with Security Ring” which can be printed in full colour, have 0 air miles because they’re made in the UK and the security ring will prevent the wristband falling off, reducing the risk of any phony “I lost my wrist band” excuses. Yeah yeah, nice try! 5. Bunting Are you looking to add a bit of colour around the edges of your event? Custom branded bunting specific to your design would be a great way to go. Bunting is a classic event decoration and you can’t go wrong with the “Triangular synthetic bunting“. This can be branded in full colour with your design or logo, making it really stand out! Our triangular paper bunting is great if you just have an indoor event, but to take the party outside you’ll need the synthetic bunting. We can’t all handle the temperamental weather! 6. Party Poppers Whether you use them as table favours or as pretend handheld grenades; our totally harmless “Branded party poppers” are the right thing for you. Add a little ‘pop’ to start the night off right, our branded party poppers come in base colours of black or white but can have a fully branded full colour wrap around label.  7. Selfie Frames  Did the party even happen if there aren’t selfies to prove it? Get these “Branded selfie frames” and keep your guests talking about the event for weeks to come as their selfies circulate online; with your branded selfie frames in every picture. These are made from 5mm Foamex Panels, cut to shape – and can be with you within 5 – 7 days! They are branded with your logos or design; they can even have a hashtag on!   8. Speakers You’ll need music to keep your post-lockdown party going, and we have a wide range of portable speakers to provide this for you, that way you can take the music anywhere.  If you’re looking for something quirky and interesting but with a great sound then check out the Wireless Speaker With Multi-Coloured Light, lightweight yet trendy light up speaker is ideal for taking the music with you all across your party. These can also could double as an amazing take home gift to party goers. 9. Branded Champagne flutes  Now we know that your party will be nothing but classy, but why not get a branded champagne flute and sip your bubbly in style! They not only have your own logo or design on them but they can double up as take-home gifts after your event. One less thing to wash up, and they get to remember the night with a free glass! (it’s bit like going down the pub and nicking a pint glass!) 10. Branded Champagne  For our number 10 item, a final must have for any post-lockdown party or event whether it’s for work or social, is our “Branded Champagne“! With your business logo or design on it you’ll feel so special to be pouring champagne from your own branded bottles, into your own branded champagne flutes. And did we mention, you can have your branded champagne shipped to you in just 5 working days!  So there you have it! Our top 10 party items for your post-lockdown party! We know the last few years have been rough on everyone, so we think it’s time we all let our hair down, turned the music up and had a good time!If you decide to have a Totally Branded bash, then let us know over on our instagram or twitter, we want to see!  

Shipping has become more of a struggle globally over the last few years, the UK isn’t alone in its suffering of shortages and supply chain disruption. As consumers it can be frustrating, but for business owners, a shipping crisis could be devastating. You may have noticed stockless shelves in the supermarkets, or your favourite products being unavailable. This isn’t because someone else got to it before you; or because the shops just don’t sell it anymore, it’s more often than not because somewhere, these products are delayed.There’s a number of reasons for this, which I am going to explore further. However, this problem has been going on for so long now, it begs the question, is there even an end in sight? Or is this just how things are now? We Know There is a Shipping Crisis, but Why is it Happening? It feels like the world is in a state of pandemonium right now, but when you look back, it sort of always has been. From our leaders going to war, our climate changing beyond recognition, Earth is a temperamental place to live. Despite this, the shipping crisis has continued to bubble under the surface over the last few years; and as it comes to a head, countries across the world are seeing more and more empty shelves in their supermarkets. Businesses are running out of stock or going bust, consumers are missing out. To understand why, we have to look at whats been going on underneath it all. Rising Fuel Prices! One of the major reasons for shipping problems comes from soaring prices for Crude Oil. As the world emerged from the COVID-19 Pandemic, the global demand for crude has increased. Travel restrictions were lifted and the world was “open for business” again. This is great news, from a consumer point of view (If you can get there!). The sudden increase in demand has seen the worlds crude oil suppliers unable to cope with the mounting pressure. This has led to shortages the world over, the UK included. Not only are there shortages of stock, but prices for freight have gone up, due to the increase in fuel prices, demand for the products themselves and rule changes. Freight is the transport of goods in bulk via truck, train, ship or aircraft. As the price of fuel skyrocketed, companies buckled under the weight of it all. They were unable to pay for shipping, so they had no stock, unable to make money, rendering their businesses untenable. The United Kingdom also had their own set of issues on top of this as we came out of lockdown. There weren’t enough HGV drivers to deliver the fuel to the petrol stations up and down the country, and announcement of this meant that consumers across the nation stocked up for the long-haul, filling their tanks and all their jerry-cans to a point that some stations ran out completely. Why was there an HGV Driver Shortage?  There was a number of reasons that our numbers were lacking when it came to HGV drivers. One of the main reasons being Brexit; the new rules that came into effect and how that changed where people could live and work.There was a year of transition from 31/01/20, the new rules coming into effect from the 01/01/21. This transitionary year was to prepare all countries involved for the changes.EU and non-EU nationals alike had to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa; which allowed some people to remain settled in the UK, but not all. This is due to the points system implemented by the UK which meant that not all workers met the criteria to stay.A significant number of our HGV drivers were from the EU who didn’t meet the criteria, which meant that we lost them during the Brexit transition period. A big setback for an already crumbling industry.Then COVID-19 hit, and the country seemingly ground to a halt. A lot people from overseas that had been working in the UK returned home to be with family. As we emerged from Lockdown, and the transition year ended; they found they weren’t able to return to the UK at all. This was another massive blow to the many struggling industries in the UK. Haulage and shipping wasn’t the only industry that suffered, food, farming and factory suffered as well, amongst other sectors. What Happened Next? The driver shortage quickly began to cause delays at UK Ports and other shipping facilities. There were thousands of shipping containers coming into docks across the country and no one to deliver the products; meaning the products inside the containers just sat there, waiting.Talk of shortages in the media led to mass panic in the shops, consumers bulk buying and supermarket shelves being emptied.Due to new customs rules and regulations. Delays at the boarders became a problem due to new customs forms as well, with some drivers lacking the appropriate information when reaching the channel crossing causing major backlogs across the EU.  Other contributing factors to the driver shortage was COVID-19 itself, what with furlough which saw millions of UK citizens on a stay-at-home order, the government having to pay our wages so we could still afford to live. The workforces not asked to stay at home (like delivery drivers, shop workers, NHS staff and factory workers) suffered staff shortages due to ill health or COVID-19 outbreaks, causing entire factories to shut down or staff numbers to fall dramatically. All of this contributed towards companies losing customers and money, many businesses went bust and had to close down permanently; others had to make redundancies. How can we fix the Shipping Crisis?  The shipping crisis had been looming overhead for a while, especially with the introductions of new rules post-Brexit. However, this doesn’t have to be a permanent problem that we just get used to, and the British Government began to swiftly implement changes intended to fix the broken supply chain. They changed the HGV drivers test to make the process quicker, provided funding for people wanting to get their HGV licence and even provided temporary visas to EU citizens with the appropriate licences. Food Delivery visas will end at the end of February 2022 and Fuel delivery visas will run out at the end of March 2022.  They also extended tax relief for the haulage industry and made military personnel available to deliver fuel.   While these temporary fixes made positive change quickly and saw us through the late witer of 2021 into 2022; we can’t be sure that the issue has gone away completely. When EU drivers’ temporary visas run out and they return home again; wont we just fall back into the same trap? The UK Government needs to implement a plan to prevent a recurrence of our shipping and supply crisis. With temporary visas about to expire, we cannot be certain these problems won’t arise again.

Who Loves Pancakes? WE DO! All of us here at Totally Branded are gearing up for what is arguably the best day of the year! (Pancake Day) As your favourite branding company, we felt it was important to remind you that the big day is approaching; and fast! When’s the Big Day? Pancake Day always falls 47 Days before Easter Sunday, making this years Pancake Day the 1st of March 2022. That’s less than a month away! What is Pancake Day, and Why do we Celebrate it? Pancake day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the last day before Lent. The day usually involves a celebration and a luxurious feast of pancakes and other rich food, this way, no food goes to waste during Lent. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, and marks the beginning of a 40 day fast, usually ending just before Easter Sunday. Shrove Tuesday and lent are observed in many Christian cultures, and in other countries around the world. Religious or not, the day is often seen as a great time to celebrate what we have, reflect on what we don’t have, and see another chance to make a change in our lives, such as giving something we don’t need up. Pancake Day Around the World As with other annual holidays and festivals, other countries have developed their own ways and traditions around Pancake Day. We thought it would be interesting to learn about some of the different ways our favourite day of the year is celebrated. Pancake Day in Denmark Three days before Lent begins, the people of Denmark come together to celebrate “Fastenlavn”. This is a 3-day celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday. During this time, danish toy shops and bakeries fill their windows with wooden barrels and toy cats; and lots of alluring baked goods filled with delicious fillings. Similar to the UK, Fastenlaven was originally the last day to feast on dairy rich foods before lent. As time has gone on the tradition has changed. While there’s still a glorious feast, it’s also a chance for Danish children to dress up as their favourite characters; and have a chance to “Hit the Cat out of the Barrel”. (It’s not a real cat, anymore!)    This is an older Fastenlaven tradition, where it was believed that hitting the wooden barrel would scare all the cats out of the towns. Over the years, cats must’ve become more tolerable, because they now hit a cardboard box to release sweets. The box symbolising the barrel, the sweets symbolising the cat. The child who successfully releases the sweets from the makeshift Barrel is then crowned the “Cat King” or “Kattekongen.” (I kind of want to be the Cat King now!) The cat is never far away from the barrel Pancake Day in Poland In modern day Poland, Pancake Day is known as “Fat Thursday” and falls on the last Thursday before lent. The days meals are filled with nothing but pancakes, pastries, and jam filled doughnuts. A real sweet feast! Naturally, this also means it’s one of the busiest days of the year for bakeries and cake shops and they have to get to work early to ensure enough food is made. Hard work for the baker, but it sounds amazing.  If we were to go back in time to 17th Century Poland, Fat Thursday was celebrated for an entire week. The people consumed only lard, bacon and vodka. Sounds to me like back in the day, they really knew how to party! Did someone say bacon? Pancake Day in Canada Similar to us here in the UK, our Canadian friends celebrate Shrove Tuesday with a feast of delicious pancakes. Those partaking in the fast get to indulge on other luxuries like meat, dairy, and eggs before sacrificing it for 40 days.  Unlike us, they tend to prefer other toppings, like maple syrup, jams or even savoury food like sausages.In an interesting twist to the pancake day festivities, its traditional to add objects to their batter, things like coins, buttons and string. These act as predictions for the eater’s future.  The person who finds a coin will come into money, anyone that finds the button will either be a tailor or seamstress. Someone who gets the string is likely to be a fisherman. There are other items like rings and wood, connected to meanings of marriage and carpentry.  The tradition itself holds a lot of meaning, but I would definitely think twice before taking a bite of pancake in Canada on Pancake Day! Maple Syrup Pancake Day in the UK Over the years, even the UK has developed some interesting traditions! Have you ever partaken in the annual pancake day races? The race is opportunity for large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, to race down streets tossing pancakes in a pan. According to tradition, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell (A bell that would be rung to call people to church to be absolved of their sins before lent begins) while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. The Olney pancake race is now world famous. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf.   Olney Pancake Race. Author: Robin Myerscough Types of Pancake Our pancakes, usually topped with lemon and sugar are similar to French crepes. However they actually have different ingredients, and British pancakes are ever so slightly thicker than their French counterparts. Some people aren’t keen on these types of pancakes and prefer a thicker, fluffier style of pancake. Enter the Scotch Pancake, which is similar in appearance to the American style pancake but again, has different ingredients.(Incase you’re wondering, this blog is making me very hungry!) Fancy Cooking Your Own? Here at Totally Branded, we love a classic, so I thought I’d share a tried and tested recipe with you all! Ingredients (Makes 12)  100g plain flour  2 large eggs  300ml milk  1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, plus a little extra for frying  (We will let you decide on what topping to use, if you’re fancying something different to the usual lemon and sugar, why not try some choccy spread?)  STEP 1  Put 100g plain flour, 2 large eggs, 300ml milk, 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil and a pinch of salt into a bowl or large jug, then whisk to a smooth batter.  STEP 2  Set a medium frying pan or crêpe pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper.  STEP 3 When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden.  Want to Celebrate Pancake Day in Style? We wouldn’t be us if we didn’t have everything you could possibly need for a company pancake day – available to be branded with your company logo!  Starting with this awesome Pancake Day kit!  The fully recyclable cardboard box is sealed shut with a branded sticker – keeping the inner contents safe and secure.   Pancake Mix (Sachet can be branded too)  Nutella  Lemon Juice  Sugar Sachet  White & Milk chocolate Callets   Tiptree Honey 28g  These would make the most perfect gift for your staff or loyal customers, or as an eco-friendly, pancake day themed giveaway!  We haven’t stopped there! We also stock aprons, oven gloves, a spatula and whisk! These can all be personalised with your logo or company name; just to make sure that we have you covered for the perfect company pancake day! Pancake Day Kit Branded Products That Last! Pancakes aren’t just for Shrove Tuesday, they’re forever! Just like these brilliant aprons and utensils that will stand the test of time and always be there to fulfil all your pancake needs! Happy Shrovetide from Totally Branded! We’d like to say thank you for being with us, and we hope that no matter how you celebrate Pancake Day, whether or not you participate in lent, that your day is filled with delicious treats.  

Has your business grown enough that you’re now considering expanding to a new location or renting a work space but you’re unsure where to start up? We’ve got you covered. We’ve created our very own league table to discover what location in the UK is the best to have a business. We picked a range of towns and cities from all over the UK - 38 to be precise -, and ranked them out of 5 against the following categories:: Average office rent (per square foot) Average salary per region Median age Number of businesses per 10k people, per region Sharing the top spot to be the best place to have a business is Coventry and Oxford, who both scored an impressive 3.8 out of 5. Followed closely by Cambridge (3.5), London (3.5) and Birmingham (3.3). Although transport links wasn’t a ranking category, we found that the cities that came out on top all have very good transport links, which is something to consider when looking for a business location. Coventry and Oxford are close to major cities, with network rail services connecting them, as well as having regular public transport and airports relatively close. Although Cambridge may not be seen as a ‘major city’ in the UK, it still has great connections into London, major motorways making it easily accessible and also airports nearby. London, of course, has the underground tube, 5 airports as well as train links across the country. Birmingham is another major city with numerous train links, regular public transport as well as an airport. Take a look at the leader board below to see how the UK cities compare with each other: 

Millions of us have experienced working from home like never before. Once seen as a trusted privilege, working from home has quickly become an enforced rule for so many.  But what does ‘working from home’ actually look like? We anonymously surveyed home workers to ask their working from home confessions that they had not yet shared with anyone. We wanted to find out some of the guilty confessions to get a sense of what it has been like, not to just work from home, but to face a global nightmare while trying to get some work done at home! Some of these are pretty hilarious. Secret Zoom Showers? “Secretly showered during a companywide team call”   Lunchtime Fumbles? “Lunchtime fumbles under the sheets with the other half. You can’t do THAT in the office. Benefits of working from home. Good for mental health”     Trousers are not required! “I know for a fact that one of my colleagues has not worn trousers in over a year , zoom meetings or not” Great Ice Breaker! “I was on a Zoom call in a very important meeting and my little Frenchie come over and started urinating all over me and my laptop…wasn’t impressed but was a very good ice breaker!”   Gaming! “5 hours of Football Manager, two hours of work. Still getting compliments on the speed and quality of my work”   Work Never Starts Before 10am at Home! “I totally loved logging on to work on time but then actually having a shower and cooking breakfast… actual start time no earlier than 10 am”   VERY VERY SICK! “Not more than 10 minutes before a super important meeting with the company’s CEO, MD, my manager and all senior people, I got VEERY, VERY SICK. In this meeting, everybody had the camera on, but when I was not presenting/asked about anything, I was turning my video off and throwing up in a salad bowl”   Zoom Meeting = Bath Time! “Opening zoom meetings putting the laptop on the toilet, camera and mic off and get in the bath!”   It’s fair to say offices exist for a reason. We wouldn’t dare get away with some of these antics in the workplace! It’s basically total chaos for many of us when working from home. Some of us love it, others of us cannot wait to be back swiping our fobs to get in and actually seeing colleagues. Thankfully, it won’t last forever, but it was very entertaining to hear some of your working from home confessions.

In March we wanted to have some fun here at Totally Branded. The marketing team decided it would be great to run a Linkedin competition to be in with the chance of winning 250 branded Curvy pens personalised with the winners company logo to help them advertise and promote their business during these testing times. The competition was a great success with many of our valued clients choosing to take part on our social media page to be in with the chance of winning. On the 18th March the marketing team took all of the applicants, spun the wheel and we had our winner. Jamie Perryman, from Perryman's Home Services. We contacted Jamie to tell him the good news, to his delight Jamie sent us across his company logo and our production team printed 250 navy blue Curvy pens with Jamies logo. Jamie has said he will be using his company branded pens to hand out to customers along with his leaflets on completion of his work for them. Perryman's Home Services is a small family business based in Norfolk. They provide a variety of home services across East Anglia. From all of the team here at Totally Branded, Congratulations to Perryman's Home Services on winning our 250 personalised curvy pens! To everyone that took part, thank you for supporting our competition, keep an eye on our social channels for further competitions to come throughout the year.

We are so pleased to announce the expansion of our in house embroidery facility here in Swaffham, Norfolk this week with a brand new state of the artwork 16 needle embroidery machine installed into our production facility. Embroidered uniform has always been an important element of our service offering for our customers here at Totally Branded. Throughout the past 12 months we have seen an increase in the demand for our branded clothing service, in particular high quality embroidered staff uniform across a variety of sectors. Investing in state of the art Melco embroidery equipment with laser precision capabilities is already allowing our embroidery team to produce some stunning embroidered clothing, we have even been able to produce a few orders already with individual embroidered names onto each garment for customers. We are so excited about the investment in our new embroidery facility and look forward to sharing more of the departments capabilities with our customers over the coming months as our product range continues to expand. For now though you can check out our range of embroidered polo shirts, branded soft shell jackets, and printed t-shirts on our website. To find out more on Totally Branded's Norfolk Embroidery facility simply get in touch today.

Custom Branded Socks For Heck Food The Client: Heck Food  Heck Food specialise in manufacturing low-fat chicken sausages and burgers, as well as meat-free and plant based produce. Over the last fifteen years the brand have made their way into the majority of supermarkets and have since taken over the gluten free sausage market. The Challenge: Boys And Girls Custom Socks Heck Food found Totally Branded on Google, making contact with us using our ‘Fast Quote Request’ button after deciding they loved our Custom Printed Crew Socks. Heck wanted to produce some high quality promotional socks to giveaway but needed something that was suitable for both males and females.  The Artwork: Creating The Perfect Sock Design We decided the best way forward for the gender campaign would be to split the socks into two colours. This would be; half of the 500 custom socks would be flooded in pink and the other half in a blue theme colour. It was now time to proceed onto the main design element. After working closing with their dedicated account manager, Our artwork team then created some initial on screen visual proofs for the Heck team to review.   Sausages, being Heck’s iconic product, were to be the dominant design. Without overpowering their logo, sausages, in a darker shade of the base colour, were scattered diagonally across the entire sock. To tie in with the rest of the sock, the heel and toe of the sock were to be woven in the same dark colour as the sausages.  Sausages scattered across the surface of a sock could have been confusing to some. So it was a definite must to put the logo on there too! Keeping to the Heck brand guidelines, the best place for their original logo was at the top, in the centre on both sides of each customised sock.  The final part of the artwork design was the recycled printed sock tag. Our designers always try to keep the printed tag a clean design as sometimes too much can quite literally become too much. So to keep the tag artwork to a minimum we decided that on one side we would have the Heck logo (which repeats underneath the tag) and on the other would be feature the sock information for the recipient such as the material and size. This would also be flooded with the base colour of the sock and the continued sausage design.  Artwork Design of Custom Logo Socks for Heck Deciding The Size of The Branded Socks Personalised Classic Crew Socks are one of the best selling premium socks within our range. Each pair is knitted from the finest cotton to offer a snug and soft fit for everyday use. The customised socks measure approx. 6-8 inches from the reinforced heel to the top of the sock cuff. To keep things simple for the Heck team when distributing the socks we selected a one size fits most which is a unisex sock fit. Custom Branded Heck Socks Onto The Next Merchandise Challenge: Promotional Puzzles! After a successful sock project with Totally Branded, Heck contacted us a second time, this time in need of some help producing printed A4 size Jigsaw Puzzles! Just as before, we worked with them to create a fun giveaway for both their staff and customers.  Our production team printed and supplied Heck with their A4 Jigsaw Puzzles branded with their company logo in full colour. Each of the 500 puzzles were delivered unassembled for the recipients to let the puzzle making begin! If you think that we could help you produce creative promotional products to advertise and promote your business, just get in touch with one of our dedicated team. Call us on 020 3481 6600 or send us an email, info@totallybranded.co.uk

8 Promotional Products To Make Working From Home Easier Working from home, some of us love it, some of us hate it. But however you feel about working from your living room table, there is no alternative choice, all we can do is try and make the situation that bit easier. Although some of us may be counting down the days until we are back in the office, there are actually some great perks to working from home such as saying goodbye to that early morning commute and saving money on it too! Cutting out the dreadful journey may be great but it still doesn’t account for all the overwhelming stress, boredom and anxiety working from home brings. One way we can help you make working from home more bearable is by providing you with some practical merchandise that can be used around the house. So whether you’re missing out on the office gossip, struggling to wake up on time or generally feeling overly stressed, we have the perfect solution for you! Working From Home Merchandise Gift Pack Starting with the big boy! This essentials pack is quite literally an essential pack for your staff. Inclusive of everything your staff need when working from home; box of malteser chocolates, A5 mole notebook, mole mate soft ballpen, square wooden coaster, tin of mints and a mobile phone desk stand.  Working From Home Gift Pack Starting from just £17 these gift sets are sure to go down a treat when it arrives at your recipients door via our individually mailing service! Including the outer A6 box, each item (excluding maltesers) can be branded with your company logo in one colour. If you would like to make your staff feel even more special, we can individually personalise each pack with the recipient’s name.  Custom Printed A5 Notebook To do lists, notes and reminders. When working from home these important things can become forgotten quite easily. That’s why a printed notebook would make such a great gift for your staff who are working at home.   A5 Mole Notebook Throughout our extensive range of notebooks we have a whole variety of different styles. From unique wire bounds, to classic hard backs, so there is certainly the perfect option to suit your specific needs. All of our paper products can be printed with your promotional message with some suitable for individually name printing, just to add that additional personal touch.  Wireless Charging Alarm Clock We can all put our hands up for this one! With relaxed lifestyles coming into play many of us are losing our regular routines and becoming that little bit lazier. Knowing we are saving ourselves an extra 40 minutes by cutting out that commute is challenging us to actually wake up in time for work.  Bamboo Clock and Wireless Charger An ideal solution to waking up on time is of course an alarm clock. Engraved with your logo in one position these attractive clocks offer both an alarm clock and a wireless charger. Plus each clock is designed with a rechargeable battery and a port at the back to support many phones. How cool is that!  Branded Water Bottles  According to national research we should be drinking between 2.7 and 3.7 litres of water each day. We must admit that we don’t come anywhere near that figure and we ourselves need to increase our water intake!  Insulated Vacuum Bottles – No Minimum Order One way to encourage staff to remain hydrated when working at home is by giving them an attractive water bottle that they are likely to use. Our most popular no minimum order insulated vacuum bottles are going down a storm with staff working from home at the moment. Their appealing shape makes them a dream to drink from!  Custom Printed Coffee Mugs  Tea and coffee, the two beverages that truly get us through the day! A regular drink break gives us a chance to clear our heads for five minutes and maybe even have a little chatter with colleagues or in this case family who are also working from home.  No Minimum Order Quantity Printed Mugs With that, printed mugs would make a great addition to any working from home environment. Whether you’re after a standard ceramic mug or an executive travel mug, we have the perfect option to make your brand that bit more involved in the home.  An added bonus for our ceramic and travel mugs is that some of them are suitable for printing of individual names, as well as your logo.  This will so make your brand look great when your recipient struts around the kitchen with it!  Logo Printed Coasters  On the topic of tea and coffee, why not expose your brand even further with a printed coaster too? Your staff are sure to appreciate you thinking of their home desk keeping stain free! Coaster Bottle Openers Our printed coasters come in sorts of shapes, designs and sizes. We even have cork coasters that will advertise your brand as one who is socially responsible! Fitness Related Merchandise   It’s important to ensure your team is moving when working at home. With most jobs this can come as challenging due to the majority of hours spent sitting at a desk. One way to encourage staff to increase their movement rate is by providing them with a fitness set.  The NHS has stated that to reduce risk of illnesses, we should exercise regularly (150 minutes per week) and reduce sitting time.  Dwayne Fitness Set Our Branded Dwayne Fitness Set is the perfect product to arrive at your customer’s doorstep to increase their activity time. Each set includes a skipping rope, two hand grip trainers and a chest expander.  At the beginning of the pandemic when gyms were enforced to close, many people turned to fitness from home. This made gym equipment costs skyrocket and encouraged us to say no to continuing with keeping fit. We have recognised this and have decided to lower our branded equipment costs to help our customers keep healthy during these unprecedented times. Mental Health Care Handy Can Kit  The name might be a mouthful, but the products inside are certainly helpful. Some staff may be struggling to adapt to the working from home environment. The stress of not being able to get work done and the anxiety of being alone could really get to your employees heads.  Mental Health Care Handy Can Kit  Inclusive of a sleep balm, a sleep mask, a roll on pulse point and a natural foam bath, these sets have been designed to give your user a reason to take time out of their day and relax.  Here at Totally Branded, we have a range of popular promotional products that can make working from home a little more bearable in 2021. Looking for something specific? Get in touch with a member of our team on 0203 1502 818 or email at info@totallybranded.co.uk.

Define Procrastination: The action of delaying or postponing something. Procrastination may not seem like such a bad thing at the time but when you sit back and begin to work out just how much time you have wasted in the last day, week, month, and even year, it can hit you pretty hard. Let's face it, at some point we all procrastinate. We spend a few minutes engaged in irrelevant conversations within the office instead of sending that all important email. As the clock hits home time we quickly depart from the office rather than filing the backlog of paperwork mounting on our desk. But in a world where we have a ton to do, and not a ton of time to do it, procrastination can have strong consequences. A simple question really - Why Wait? Below are five effective strategies to help you fight procrastination 5 Ways to Fight Procrastination Schedule your day I have always scheduled my day. I personally find that by creating a list of all my tasks and objectives for the day, then scheduling these into my calendar allocating the necessary amount of time to each task ensures that I am focused and driven on any given day. The beauty of scheduling your day is that if you get thrown off course with an unexpected meeting or receive an unsolicited phone call you are quickly able refer back to your schedule at any given time and know the current task you should be focusing on. An electronic calendar is a fantastic resource to have as this allows you to access your schedule from your desktop, smart phone, tablet and even smart watch! By scheduling your day effectively you are able understand what you can realistically achieve with your time and avoid taking on more than you can handle each day. On the other hand, many people aren't a fan of using technology to manage the to do list though. Many find a lined notebook or tear away notepad the perfect companion to schedule their day. Prioritise your work Although the overall mission is to get everything complete, It is also crucial that you are able to prioritise your work. Being able to prioritise your work is something that can really help you to become increasingly motivated and avoid procrastinating. You need to identify the most crucial/important task on your schedule, and then complete that first. I personally see no point in wasting your time, energy, and drive on tackling insignificant tasks first despite how tempting it can be if certain tasks are quick and simple. What you will find is that if you do less important work first, by the time you have completed that you will probably feel too drained to effectively tackle the important tasks. Change your environment It is proven that different environments can have a different impact on your productivity. Take a look at your desk? your office? Do they make you want to work? Do you feel that you can focus on achieving your goals and feel inspired to get stuck into your to do list? If the answer to those questions is no then you may want to consider changing your environment. Use the Internet to your advantage By using an online tool such as Notion means that you can organise all of your notes effectively and carry them on your electronic device wherever you go! Having access to an app like Notion means that you can take advantage of time spent travelling on the train or bus by opening up Notion and drafting your next blog post, planning your monthly goals, or drafting new website content. Start a done list At the end of each day, write down what you've accomplished. It will help you realise just how efficiently you're working and shows you exactly what you have achieved. Further to this, having a done list will outline where your efforts are paying off and where they aren’t. Procrastination is something that can be overcome with the right mental attitude and resources. So why not start dedicating yourself to beating procrastination now, set a goal to be motivated, and watch the results materialise as you begin to take action.

The Best Selling Promotional Merchandise of 2020 As we begin a new year it’s important to reflect back on the previous one and think on the problems we have overcome and problems that still remain. 2020 was certainly a rollercoaster year for us all but there were also some great outcomes of the year too. Here at Totally Branded we spent another successful year helping businesses overcome their marketing barriers as well as supporting them to achieve their advertising goals. We worked alongside thousands of companies creating promotional merchandise and branded clothing. Not forgetting the hundreds of thousands of branded logo face masks that we made for our customers globally.  Looking ahead to 2021 as a team we have summarised the most popular promotional giveaways of the year 2020! We hope this will help provide some inspiration on successful branded merchandise.  Reusable Printed Face Masks The iconic promotional product of 2020. In April 2020 we launched our range of printed face coverings. Thousands of organisations decided to apply their branding to a promotional product that not only would promote their company name but also keep their staff and customers safe in what has now become the new normal.  Printed Reusable Face Masks In July 2020 the Government in the UK instructed that a face covering must be worn on public transport. Our most popular promotional product very quickly became the printed face mask. Particularly popular, was the Reusable Printed Face Masks . This was one of the first UK made promotional masks that we released and their small minimum order quantity of just 25 masks quickly made them a favourite for many small businesses. Suitable for base flooding to any colour, these unique face masks are cost effective and practical, offering high visibility of your logo. Promotional Wine Boxes Wine! Of course an alcohol related product would make it to our list after the year we have all had! Our promotional wine boxes are perfect for organisations looking to give their staff and customers something luxury to say thanks for their loyalty and hard work towards their business throughout the year.  Promotional Wine Box Each custom printed two piece box is made from high quality pine wood and features an area to store a single bottle of up to the size of 90 x 330 mm. Whether you decide to give these executive boxes to your clients or hand them out to staff; one thing for sure is that the recipient will remember your kind gesture! Branded Curvy Ballpens As always, the Curvy has made it to our best selling list. It has always been the best selling promotional pen with millions being sold globally each year. Now available with printed and delivered as quickly as the next working day, it’s to no surprise that these branded ball pens have been a hit yet again!  Curvy Ball Pen Black Did you know there are over thirty vibrant colours to choose from to compliment your promotional message, logo and contact details all of which can be printed in up to full colour?  No Minimum Order Printed Cambridge Mug Did you know that the UK consumes a huge thirty six billion cups of tea every single year? This works out to over one hundred million a day! Us Brits really do love a cuppa! And that’s not even considering coffee!  White Printed Cambridge Mugs But what can’t you have tea without? A mug! Our No Minimum Order Quantity Printed Cambridge Mugs are our best selling mug style within our range. Yes they are very attractive, affordable and practical but with the ability to order as little as one, they are also the perfect promotional giveaway for startups and small businesses.  No Minimum Order Insulated Vacuum Bottles Practical and suitable for almost any marketing campaign, it’s no surprise that our No Minimum Order Vacuum Insulated Bottles have made their way onto our most popular promotional product list. These branded bottles are available in a solid white gloss finish and offer a large wrap print area for your custom branding. Low Minimum Insulated Bottles Just like the branded Cambridge Mugs these bottles are also available to order from as little as just one unit making them another great promotional product for small businesses and smaller event giveaways.  Eco Friendly Coloured Jute Bag With marketeers looking closer than ever at sustainable promotional products combined with the rise in the supermarket cost for plastic carrier bags, reusable printed Jute bags are growing in popularity.   Eco Friendly Coloured Edge Jute Bag Whether you’re trying to catch new customers’ attention or remind your existing customers that you still appreciate them, this eco friendly coloured jute bag is the perfect solution for helping brand awareness grow. And that’s without mentioning their contribution towards a healthy environment!  No Minimum Order Quantity Printed A5 Notebooks Practical, attractive, functional and a great marketing tool, these printed notebooks have certainly earned their place in our list of the top ten promotional products! Available in a black soft cover finish these soft touch books are the perfect branded giveaway for small businesses with no minimum order quantity. Order as little as 1 printed notebook now. Full Colour Printed Notebooks Each custom printed notebook includes 80 sheets of ivory lined paper, a ribbon bookmark, a pen loop, an elastic closure strap and an expandable pocket in the rear. What’s more, small quantities of this printed logo notebook can be delivered as quickly as the next working day to the UK! Individual Name Printed Cambridge Mugs And so the famous Cambridge mugs make an appearance again! We just can’t get enough of them! This time they have a twist to them. We can now apply an individual printed name to each mug along with your company logo. Our clients have loved individually personalising their staff mugs with individual drink preferences too!  Individually Name Printed Mugs Personalised name printed mugs have also grown in popularity in 2020 as they also encourage greater hygiene practices between those within the workplace.  And that’s it! Our top 10 promotional products for the year 2020. We hope this may have given some insight and some ideas for your next promotional marketing campaign. If you would like some further help and ideas, simply contact one of our dedicated account managers who are on hand to help from Monday through to Friday. Simply email info@totallybranded.co.uk or call 020 3481 6600. 

AVAILABLE NOW: Mailable Christmas Gift Sets Although it may be too early to put up the tree, it doesn’t mean that it’s too early to get your gifts prepared for your customers and colleagues. The 2020 festive season is bound to look very different in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn’t need to affect how you would normally celebrate! Unfortunately there are going to be many festive events that can’t take place this year, one of which is the annual Christmas party. This iconic party is taken as an opportunity to thank your staff for all of the hard work they have put into your business throughout the year. As this party can’t take place we have come up with a solution to ensure you can still show colleagues your appreciation of them. With that in mind we would like to introduce you to our new festive gift sets that we know your clients and staff will love. Our beautiful gift sets are a great way to showcase how much you value the people who are an essential part of your business. Filled with various printed goodies these sets are sure to make a statement when sat under the recipient’s Christmas tree. After the bumpy sleigh ride of a year we have had, it’s likely that most of your staff are working from home. So it’s the perfect time to take advantage of our individual mailing service on our range of branded Christmas gift sets. Simply provide us with the recipients address and we will ensure it arrives at their doorstep before Christmas day. Our gift boxes have been divided into four levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. Each level is synonymous with what the contents consist of. Read below to find out more about all of our sets.  Branded Christmas Gift Set – Bronze The beginners level of our Christmas sets. From as little as £5.00 you can gift your customers or colleges with a Luxury White Box printed with your logo. Within each personalised box there is: Individually Named Printed Cambridge Mug – White Organza Bag Filled With Milk Chocolates Branded Christmas Gift Set – Bronze Branded Christmas Gift Set – Silver  Next up is our medium level silver gift set. This quality set is available to order from just £6.00, making it a great budget friendly option to keep your customers satisfied this Christmas. Supplied in a beautiful A5 Two Piece Gift Box, this set includes: A5 Mole Notebook – Any Colour Organza Bag Filled with Milk Chocolates Christmas Card Personalised with Your Festive Message. Branded Christmas Gift Set – Silver To fit in with your marketing campaign each individual piece of this set can be printed with your logo in full colour – including the gift box.  Branded Christmas Gift Set – Gold The Gold Christmas Gift Set is one of our premium gift boxes crafted to meet the needs of your staff who are working from home. With the option to have this luxury box delivered straight to the recipients door, this seasons Christmas gifting will be made stress free. Our luxury gold gift set is inclusive of: Individually Name Printed Cambridge Mug – White A5 Mole Notebook – Available In Any Colour MDF Coaster Calendar Mouse Mat Foil Wrapped Milk Chocolates – Gold Silver Deep Closure White Gift Box – White Santa Hat – Red/White Branded Christmas Gift Set – Gold Personalised with your logo to each piece, these boxes are sure to maximise brand exposure when sat on the recipients desk. Each part of the set can be used repeatedly both in and out of the office. With pricing starting from just £20 this is a great cost effective way to celebrate and give thanks this festive season.  Branded Christmas Gift Set – Platinum Refined, elegant and powerful, the Platinum gift box will set new benchmarks in gift giving this festive season. The luxury gift set is uniquely designed to appeal both those working from home and others who have remained in the office. Each mailable gift box is packed with a wide variety of branded goodies for your colleagues and customers, including:  Calendar Mouse Mat  A5 Mole Notebook – Available In Any Colour  Individually Name Printed Cambridge Mug – White  MDF Square Coaster  Grow Your Own Christmas Tree Pot  Insulated Tide Bottle – White  Foil Wrapped Milk Chocolates In Organza Bag – Gold/Silver   Santa Hat – Red/White  Medium Size Presentation Box – White Branded Christmas Gift Set – Platinum Printed with your company logo onto each individual piece, these boxes are great for generating maximum exposure of your brand. The contents of the box all offer an extended print area, meaning more space for your logo. Christmas Gift Each hamper box is delivered with your branding to the lid, as well as the contents within. Whats more, if you are looking to add some extra character to your gift boxes we can fill your Christmas gift sets with a handful of straw to make them look even more festive! Interested? If you wish to find out more information, or request pricing, simply contact one of our friendly and experienced account managers who will be happy to help with anything you need.

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!! It's time to prepare your business for the festive month ahead. If you love Christmas as much as we do you will be excited to know that we have launched our 2020 Christmas shop! So, if you're ready to get a head start, you can shop our festive goodies online... Hurry up! The time is running out! Gift giving is symbolic to the Christmas spirit. However, a question we ask our self when the season approaches is why do we really hand out presents? Well, according to Why Christmas, the main reason we hand out gifts at Christmas is to remind us of presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men: frankincense, gold and myrrh! Throughout our range we have a variety of corporate Christmas gifts suitable for budgets both small and large. We have put together a list of our top 10 promotional festive gifts that you can present to your customers at the end of the year. 1 - Mini Prosecco Bottles According to Christmas tradition (that I may have just made up..?) you should drink at least one bottle of Prosecco at each Christmas event in order to bring you good luck in the year ahead. Although this fact may not be true, I still think it's worth trying, just to be sure! Mini Prosecco Bottles printed with your logo are ideal for keeping up the festive tradition. Each miniature bottle contains 20cl of scrumptious, bubbly, Prosecco protected by a glass finish with a silver coated cork top. The glass bottle is customised with your company logo in a full colour printed sticker to gain brand attention and customer satisfaction.  Promotional Mini Prosecco  2 – Promotional Luxury Castelli Ivory Diary It’s hard to admit but we have all been in the situation before;  you unwrap a present only to be unsatisfied with what’s hiding inside. Obviously, it’s  far too awkward and unreasonable to bring this up in the presence of the gift giver, so you just keep it to yourself. But you are not alone! In fact according to facts released by eBay there was over £700 million wasted on unwanted Christmas gifts last year! That averages out at 328.53 per person!  So following the stats it would make far more sense to gift your customers and staff with something they can make use of, even if it does cost that little bit extra. High quality Ivory Matra Diaries would make a great end of year gift for your valued staff. Custom printed with your company logo in up to full colour to the front cover. Wherever the diary is taken from around the office to offsite meetings, your brand will be on full show to everyone nearby. Each diary has a vibrant finish that is sure to draw attention to your brand whenever something needs to be planned! Medium Ivory Matra Diary   3 – Soothing Scented Home Candles Candles are commonly gifted at Christmas. But have you ever wondered why?  Like most people, we love the effect that the glowing candle creates in the winter months, blowing off a beautiful scent and giving warming home vibes a candle always goes down a treat when gifted in the festive period. Candles where first used during the ancient times when the winter celebrations took place as a way to remember that spring would be approaching quite soon. One of the first records of candles being gifted at Christmas was in the middle ages when a candle was used to resemble the star of Bethlehem. As the years have gone on, the candle has lost its religious name quite drastically. But people will always adore a scented candle at the heart of their home, even if it’s just used as an accessory.  Our soft and sweet vanilla candle is a great gift for customers within a gift set or on its own. Vanilla is beautiful scent that is commonly celebrated for its feminine qualities. This luxury candle is distinguished by its smooth flavour that will light up a room with its timid smell. At the front of each glass candle jar there is a large area for a printed logo sticker in full colour.  Scented Home Candle  4 – Personalised Passport Covers  According to a recent report over 4.7 million Brits flock overseas for Christmas and new year, that’s just over 42% of us! This may seem hard to believe, but when you think about the cold wet and windy Christmas day we normally have, it’s no surprise that so many people decide to jet off to the hot sun for the festive period. Our corporate Odyssey RFID Secure Passport Cover, made from thermo PU plastic, is an essential travel item to ensure your logo is seen worldwide. Each passport cover is available in a split screen grey and black finish with an embossed design to the front. Passport covers are a great high quality giveaway throughout the year, especially in the Christmas season.      Odyssey RFID Secure Passport Cover   5 – Executive Engraved Gift Sets  Still struggling to decide what to get your customers? A gift set is always a good option! Gifting someone something standard like a shop voucher can feel like a cop out. Gift sets on the other hand can retain a thoughtful component that Christmas presents provide. Although gift sets are very thoughtful they are actually a super easy buy. All of the products are laid out for you, all you have to do is chose which one best suits your customer/staff (s) needs. Our branded Florence gift set is a popular choice in the festive season. Each corporate set contains an executive pillow clock, a leather mill brook keyring and a luxury Elba ball pen. All of the individual items are suitable for laser engraved logos or promotional messages to ensure your brand is on full show even when the products are used without the others within the set. For a gift set that’s slightly more casual we recommend our Falsetto Gift Set. This beautiful set is a great gift for staff at Christmas time to show them the appreciation you have for them. Each set contains a black A5 sized notebook with a matching luxe pen, all of which are delivered in a Luxe gift box.  Branded Florence Gift Set     6 – Executive Bottle Opener Keyring The average Brit will consume an average of 26 units per day this Christmas, with the nation as a whole expected to drink over six billion units of alcohol between Christmas Eve and New Years Day… Unbelievable, right! Well it only becomes believable when you’re hanging by a thread on the 2nd day into January… Don’t shake your head, we have all been there! Executive bottle opener keyring’s are an effective promotional product within the festive season. Each bottle opener is engraved with your custom design for a long lasting platform to ensure your brand is exposed whenever the opener is used. As a gift this bottle opener would be perfect. Supplied in a luxury card gift box you wont even have to worry about wrapping it up!  Bottle Opener Keyring     7 – Individual Printed Name Mugs A personalised gift shows that you put time, effort and thought into their gift. Without a doubt personalised gifts have become a popular player within the gift giving world. Just by printing someone’s name, or a line that represents them to the front of a product can make even an ordinarily gift special, what is not to love! After all, gift giving is about sharing affection in a gift, adding personalisation to the gift straight away sounds like a perfect match.  Personalised mugs can be gifted to almost everyone, men, kids, women and so on, because personal things are meant for everyone! So if you are wondering about what to gift your customers this Christmas, go for an individually named mug! It will sure go down a treat! Don’t believe how great they are? There are various studies that show that consumers prefer a personalised gift. In fact ‘‘personalised products sell for an average of 40% more than the standard non custom version." Individually name printed mugs     8 –  Printed Parker Pens   Take a step into the premium gift world by aligning your business with an executive brand like Parker. With over a century of passion and experience, Parker continues to build on its legacy, committing to quality to ensure that each and every pen delivered the best writing experience for every personal writer. For this upcoming holiday season a Parker pen makes a perfect gift. Within Parkers collection you will be able to find the right gift that will delight your customers and your budget.  The iconic Parker Sonnet Fountain Pen distils Parkers decades of quality writing instrument expertise into a design of breath taking flowing performance. The design is truly unique and the feature list is phenomenal. From the crafted details to the perfect weighted grip, everything about the pen has been considered to ensure the greatest writing experience.         Parker Urban Premium Rollerball Pen   9 – Celebrations Share Tin   If there isn’t one of these constantly sitting on your coffee table from at least the 4th of December onwards then you’re doing it wrong! It’s a good job calories don’t count at Christmas as they are a very sneaky chocolate treat! You tend to grab one or two on your way upstairs only to realise 10 minutes later you are downstairs demolishing the full tin! Did you know the serving suggestion of these is actually only TWO, I mean that sounds like an insult to me! We normally finish the tin within an hour! Printed with your logo a celebration tin would add a nice touch to the office at Christmas time. Or alternatively if you was to gift this to your customers it would keep your logo on full show around the office, whilst keeping them happy.     Celebrations Share Tin    Top 10 Corporate Christmas Gift Ideas For 2020 Contact Us Today! From personalised mugs to printed pens, Totally Branded have everything you need to impress your customers all the way into 2021. Need some help with finding the perfect promotional gift? Simply contact one of our friendly account managers on 020 3481 6600 or send them an email on info@totallybranded.co.uk

Supporting St Clare Hospice During This Difficult Time Here at Totally Branded we are delighted to have supported St Clare’s Hospice during this difficult time. Totally Branded have donated various promotional products personalised with the St Clare logo. We have created some popular full colour printed bottles, tote bags and pens to spread further brand awareness of the charities local care. Who Is St Clare’s Hospice? St Clare’s Hospice is a Hospice charity based in Essex. Each year they care for hundreds of people across West Essex and the East Hertfordshire border, providing free, compassionate care and support to adults with life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers. Coronavirus and Charities With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 it has been incredibly hard for charities to raise the funds they require to care for those who need it most. Our goal is to do all that we can to support these charities in any way possible to ensure that their patients receive the help they need throughout this time.  We selected some of most popular and practical items to donate which included Sky Bottles, Curvy Ballpens and Tote Bags. The gifts we have donated will be used by the fundraising team to help spread awareness of St Clare at Hospice events. We are very pleased to have been able to contribute to such an important charity. A Heartwarming Thank You Message!  St Clare was kind enough to send us a message thanking us for contributing to their charity. The message we received was what made it all worthwhile!  ‘’We’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Totally Branded. Their excellent, professional service for the past year has been wonderful. In addition to supplying us with customised running vests and t-shirts for our local supporters taking on a challenge for us, at a charity discounted rate, they have now supplied us with stacks of donated, branded merchandise to help us spread the word of St Clare. ‘’ “Raising awareness of our services and brand is an essential part of ensuring that our local communities know we are here to support them through living with a life-limiting illness, the end of life and bereavement. Totally Branded’s kind gesture is therefore much appreciated and will go a long way.” How Can I Donate? By donating to St Clare Hospice we are allowing them to continue providing their compassionate care and support to those facing a life-limiting diagnosis and their loved ones. No matter how large or small, a donation means so much to the local families who need them. You can check out their website here to learn more.

Screen Printing VS Direct To Garment Printing It can become slightly overwhelming choosing the correct print method for your company uniform.  So we are going to help you out by breaking down the most popular printing methods to ensure you find the best suited option for your branding.  Screen Printing Screen printing is like a stencil. Your logo or promotional message is burned onto a screen until the ink is ready to be pushed through onto a surface using a squeegee.  In theory this method is simple, but it may become highly technical in practice. Especially when automatic screen printing presses can print hundreds of products per hour. Although with screen printing the setup offers a longer process, once your screens are eventually in place, products can be printed at a faster rate at a greater price break.  Pros and Cons of Screen Printing Pros: screen printing has a large number of pros. Number one being the quality of print. In comparison to DTG, screen printing offers a much more vibrant finish, and with a water based print the finish will be much softer and last a lot longer.  Screen printing is a great option for anyone looking to order in bulks of 100. This is because the same amount of setup goes into one bag as it does 1,000 meaning smaller orders may cost more per print. But when ordering larger quantities your cost per print will be much less.  Cons: with screen printing it is harder to achieve realistic photographic images. It takes burning multiple screens and an elegant blending of colours to work. An experienced printer will be able to make this work but DTG printing will normally make the image slightly sharper.  Is Screen Printing The Right Method For My Branding? The quality of print will be slightly different in comparison to a DTG printer, plus you will get better price breaks. However, if you are looking to print a larger quantity of items, then screen printing is our recommended option.    Direct To Garment  DTG printing is basically a garment version of an ink jet office printer. Printing on textiles the same way your standard home printer prints on paper.  As there is virtually no setup involved when printing via DTG, it opens a new opportunity to order smaller runs and even one of prints with zero problems.  Pros and Cons of Direct To Garment Printing Pros: with DTG printers there is no long winded set up involved which makes it super easy to print small quantities and one offs at a reasonable price.  Also, as the print is done digitally without screens DTG is perfect for designing high quality realistic photographic prints.  Cons: DTG printing is not the best option when you’re planning to order in bulk. There usually isn’t price breaks for how many bags you order, and the cost to produce one bag is still high.  DTG printers don’t print as vibrantly as screen printing does.  Is DTG Printing Suitable For My Logo?  If you’re at the beginning of launching a new brand or introducing a new logo, DTG printing is a great option. It is convenient, there is no commitment and you’re not limited to design numbers.   If you are looking for a small quantity of printed products for a conference or for gifting to delegates, DTG could be a good choice.  We hope this guide helps you and your business figure out which option best suits your needs.  Screen Printing:  Direct To Garment Printing: 

Amongst all of the uproar caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, many businesses and organisations across the world had to result to staff working from home. When returning staff to a their usual place of work, many precautions had to be put in place to ensure that staff remained safe. Branded Automatic Hand Sanitiser Stations – Floor Standing: APADMI contacted Totally Branded after deciding that they loved the look of our Automatic Hand Sanitiser Stations. After a long and detailed discussion with their Account Manager – Mitchell, APADMI supplied us with their design requirements. This was then referred to our in-house studio team who provided visuals for them to approve. After several design changes to ensure that APADMI were happy with their Automatic Hand Sanitiser Stations, the order was placed into production and APADMI were notified of the standard turnaround of 3 to 5 working days. Hours after the order was placed into production, APADMI contacted their Account Manager in a major panic. They had been invited to appear on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to show how they had been preparing for staff to return to work. They really needed their branded sanitiser stations delivered by 6:00am the next morning! As always, Totally Branded go above and beyond when we can. Our production team ensured that all 9 of the APADMI Automatic Hand Sanitiser Stations were printed by the same evening. Our courier then drove them to APADMI through the night and they were delivered at 5:00am the very next morning, with an hour to spare! “Great customer service from Mitchell, amends were made easily and the products were easy to adapt to our branding styles. The products were turned around quickly and efficiently and were installed the next day. Would definitely recommend. Thank you.” – APADMI Social Distancing Floor Vinyl Stickers: After being extremely impressed with the service that they had received when ordering their Branded Sanitiser Stations with us, APADMI contacted us and asked us to supply them with Printed Social Distance Vinyl Stickers. We worked with them to provide Circular Vinyl Stickers in various designs, reminding the need to keep 2 metres apart and enforcing a one way system around their large offices. Our production team printed and supplied APADMI with their circular Vinyl Stickers laminated with anti slip to prevent any injuries within the work place. Best of all, the Vinyl Stickers were made to be suitable for carpet, hard floors and stairs!       Everyone involved in the print, design and support stage thoroughly enjoyed working on this great back-to-work project. We look forward to working with APADMI again soon.

On Sunday 10th May, Boris Johnson addressed the nation urging those that cannot work from home to return to work. In light of this employers are now legally required to risk assess the workplace. Systems and resources now must be put into place to minimise risk within the working environment. The Government has created eight guides on working safely during coronavirus. The guidance has been created to support employers, employees, and the self-employed understand how to stay safe when returning to work during the pandemic. Each of the eight guides focus on a different working environment depending on the business. For example there is a guide specifically for offices and contact centres. Keeping employees, customers, and visitors, safe within the workplace is more important than ever during this unprecedented global pandemic. Employers have a responsibility to review new ways of working to minimise risk across all areas of businesses. After reviewing the Office and contact centres guidance issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy we have put together ten ways to create a COVID-Secure workplace. What is a COVID Secure Workplace? Workplaces inevitably are going to face the real risk of coronavirus transmission for as long as the outbreak lasts. For now at least we have to adapt to make working environments as safe as possible. A COVID Secure workplace is about working to create the safest possible environment for employees, customers, and site visitors. Following the professional guidelines and implementing this advice into your business appropriately is crucial. Carry out a COVID-19 Risk Assessment All employers need to first assess the risks of COVID-19. This means you need to think about the risks employees and site visitors face and do everything reasonably possible to minimise them as a business. It is important to acknowledge that the Government have stated within the guidelines employers must recognise that you cannot completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19. A risk assessment does not need to be about creating a large thousand page guide, instead simply reviewing all areas of the business and identifying sensible measures to control and minimise risk. Creating a risk assessment will help you decide on all of the tools that you will need to be a COVID secure workplace. Now you have conducted your risk assessment you will no doubt have a list of important resources that your workplace needs in order to become COVID secure. Totally Branded has a wide range of coronavirus protective products that are essential when making your environment Covid secure. Everything from branded hand sanitisers, social distancing floor tape, branded logo face masks, to screen shields and promotional hygiene keyrings. Whilst every business is going to be unique in its resource requirements in order to minimise the risk of transmission, we have outlined below some key tools that are helping businesses in preparing to safely reopen. Provide Staff with Company Hand Sanitiser Anti bacterial hand sanitiser, compliant with the World Health Organisation standards is crucial for staff and visitors. Hand sanitiser works especially well in the workplace as there may not always be a sink available close by for washing hands with soap. Creating company branded hand sanitisers to provide each member of staff with is a further way to prevent the spread of germs within the workplace. Tip: Alongside your own branded hand sanitiser, a printed poster around the office reminding staff to consistently sanitise their hands works very well to raise awareness of the importance of using the anti bacterial gel to regularly sanitise throughout the working day.  Branded with your logo, sanitiser gel not only protects staff but also provides an amazing practical promotional product. When it comes to branded goodies at the moment, nothing beats a good quality hand sanitiser. With retail store sanitiser prices sky high recipients now appreciate the value of sanitiser and understand how important hygiene is. At Totally Branded we stock a wide variety of hand sanitisers here in the UK with low minimum order quantities. UK made branded hand sanitiser allows us to ensure the anti bacterial formula meets EN-1276 and EB-15000 standards. What’s more, The World Health Organisation has set a specific formula that must be used to ensure that sanitising products are effective. Our UK made sanitisers have been independently lab tested to verify that the anti bacterial gel meets this criteria and will kill 99.9% of all bacteria. Our most popular option is the Ellyson 30ml Sanitiser. Comes in 6 colours on the lid to match with your business and branding. Features a handy carabiner clip for easy storage and contains 62% alcohol. The beauty of this sanitiser is the practicality, ensuring that it can always be carried with you during the day to ensure regular hand washing without being bulky. You can also see our full range of promotional hand sanitisers here! Branded Face Masks From 15th June 2020 the Government have confirmed that it will be a legal requirement to wear a face covering when using public transport. Public Health England have produced guidance on wearing a face covering: A cloth face covering should cover your mouth and nose while allowing you to breathe comfortably. It can be as simple as a scarf or bandana that ties behind the head. Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser before putting it on and after taking it off. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth at all times and store used face coverings in a plastic bag until you have an opportunity to wash them. Do not touch the front of the face covering, or the part of the face covering that has been in contact with your mouth and nose. Once removed, make sure you clean any surfaces the face covering has touched. You should wash a face covering regularly. It can go in with other laundry, using your normal detergent. When wearing a face covering, take care to tuck away any loose ends. Following this guidance we have produced a range of branded logo face masks to help prevent the spread. Face masks prevent the touching of vulnerable areas of your face such as your mouth and nose whilst in public places. Covering these parts of your face helps to reduce transmission. Mask Style 1 – Branded Logo Face Mask with Filter The custom printed reusable face mask is designed for personal use and features a KM2.5 filter that slides into the pocket layer within the mask. Manufactured using a skin-friendly cotton internal layer which is in contact with the face, along with a full colour printed polyester outer layer. The material used to create these reusable masks has been independently tested to meet the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX product class 2 skin contact. Once printed with your full colour design the material allows for a cold machine wash or hand washing before reusing. It’s important to remember that the filter inside the mask must be removed before washing. We also strongly recommended that the face mask is not placed into a tumble dryer. Like all of our custom branded face masks, the masks are used for personal use only. Designed to act as an additional barrier that will help to prevent the contact with some airborne particles as well as prevent hand to face contact, avoiding potentially contaminated hands coming into contact with vulnerable areas of the face, such as the mouth and nose. The minimum order quantity for the printed face masks with a filter inside is 250 pieces with a lead time of approximately fifteen to twenty working days. If you need a smaller quantity of printed face masks, or need reusable masks with fast delivery then our next mask style is the perfect solution for you. Branded Face Mask with Filter Inside Mask Style 2 – No Minimum Order Quantity Printed Face Masks In line with the recent Public Health England face coverings guidance, we have been able to create a new style of UK printed face mask, with no minimum order quantity and fast delivery in as quick as 3 working days. A comfortable, smooth, white polyester fabric mask is flood printed to your chosen colour along with your company logo. Following the guidance issued, “A cloth face covering should cover your mouth and nose while allowing you to breathe comfortably. It can be as simple as a scarf or bandana that ties behind the head.” We wanted to create a promotional face covering that is accessible for businesses of all shapes and sizes to giveaway staff. This means that small businesses needing small quantities of personalised masks can now not be restricted by quantity restrictions. Small Quantity Printed Face Masks Hand Sanitiser Stations Regularly cleaning our hands is now more important than ever before. A freestanding hand sanitiser dispenser is now more than ever a must-have for workplaces becoming COVID-Secure. Tip: Place your company branded hand sanitiser station at the entrance to your workplace, ensuring that each member of staff cleans their hands before entering the premises. Working to prevent the chance of germs being carried into the building is essential as we return to work. A strong, freestanding metal unit, full colour printed with your personalised design to the entire front allows your company branded sanitiser stations to be produced on brand and with a personalised message encouraging staff to regularly sanitise hands within the workplace. Contactless hand sanitiser stations further reduce the risk of transmitting the virus using the automatic battery operated dispenser system built into the metal station. Each time the dispenser is refilled this allows for 660 uses of the station. Freestanding Automatic Hand Sanitiser Dispenser These are just some of the tools that are important in the quest to prepare for the ‘new normal’ within the workplace. To further help our customers we have created a dedicated range of Protective Products on our website which includes a large range of tools that can help organisations preparing to return to work over the coming months

How We Helped Hatch Interiors To Promote Their Brand With Branded Mugs Hatch Interiors contacted Totally Branded in October 2019, looking for some no-minimum-order promotional mugs to help them with a pitch. Of course, here at Totally Branded, no-minimum-order mugs are our speciality! We reviewed several samples to help us to ensure that the mugs we were providing were more than just acceptable – we want to provide the best products for every enquiry. After reviewing, we decided upon the samples which would be perfectly suited to providing Hatch Interiors with their branded mugs. It was important to us to ensure that the branding and promotional message that was intended for Hatch Interior’s mugs would stick in the forefront of their recipient’s mind for years. The next stage was for our production and promotional design team to create mockups of the visual artwork that would be printed on the mugs. These artwork visual mockups would be sent to the managing team at Hatch Interiors to ensure that they were happy with how the finished products would look. Once Hatch Interiors had approved of the artwork visual from our design team, we had the go-ahead to start production. At Totally Branded, we produce and print your products under our own roof – here we ensured that the printed mugs were perfect. Our production team started work on the mugs, and once completed we shipped them out to Hatch Interior’s front door in only three working days! Upon delivery of the printed mugs to Hatch Interior’s office in Harlow, the team were kind enough to leave a review for Totally Branded. The review said: “Great Service. They branded a small order of 10 mugs for me, where everywhere else had a much larger minimum quantity. Also delivered nice and quickly.” We have enjoyed working with the team over at Hatch Interiors to create their no-minimum-order promotional mugs, and would like to offer our thanks to them for choosing Totally Branded. If branded mugs sound like the kind of promotional item that would be good for your company, then we would love to hear from you!

Need Small Quantity Printed T-Shirts? We are thrilled to bring to you our No Minimum Order Quantity Printed T-Shirt Service. Promotional T-Shirts personalised with your logo are perfect for events and trade shows. We understand that sometimes you just need a small quantity of printed t-shirts rather than large quantity screen printed t-shirts. Using our newly installed equipment we can now off fast printed t-shirts with free delivery. We have a large choice of T-Shirt brands such as Gildan, Fruit of the Loom, SOL's, and Americain Apparel to name a few. Our t-shirts are available in a wide range of stock colours to suit your brand. For our fast turnaround printed t-shirts we use our Vinyl or Digital Transfer printing methods however for larger branded clothing orders we also offer screen printed and embroidered t-shirts. From our offices in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire our team on hand to produce fast printed t-shirts personalised with your logo. From Company Logo T-Shirts to Personalised Stag and Hen T-Shirts we are on hand to help with your personalised t-shirts. Just contact one of our dedicated account managers today to request your bespoke quotation and artwork design.

Totally Branded, one of the UK’s leading Promotional Products Distributors based in Hertfordshire in the South East of England is delighted to announce the hire of it’s new UK account manager, Mitchell Tassie. Mitchell joins us with a wealth of industry experience and we are very much looking forward to our valued clients working alongside Mitchell over the coming weeks to create outstanding promotional products and branded clothing. We caught up with Mitchell, he said “I am delighted to be working alongside the team here at Totally Branded, and am very excited to get stuck into a new challenge over the coming months working with a fantastic team of branded merchandise experts and the great roster of clients that partner with Totally Branded to provide there company promotional products and branded uniforms” On behalf of everyone here at Totally Branded we would like to wish Mitchell a big warm welcome to the team and look forward to seeing him progress throughout the coming months. For more information on Totally Branded and the creative promotional products and branding services that are available, head over to our website at www.totallybranded.co.uk

Montagues Sales & Lettings with offices in Epping and Ongar in Essex recently approached Totally Branded seeking help with creating a durable, high quality, automatic opening, personalised company umbrella branded with their new logo to leave at the door of their local offices as a high end executive giveaway to visitors to there branches. After reviewing various physical promotional umbrella samples so that we could be sure that we were producing the best fit for purpose branded umbrella for this property sector business to ensure that recipients would see the corporate branded umbrella as a valuable gift and remember the Montagues brand for years to come and hold onto the personalised company umbrella. Once we had selected the walking size umbrella of choice with a classic grip handle it was then time for our in house promotional product design team to create the artwork visual mockups so that the Montagues management team could visually see how the finished printed umbrellas would look once completed. Initially, to keep costs down for the Estate Agents our team based the artwork visuals around the 1 spot colour logo being screen printed onto just two of the eight available panels however it was decided that for the minimal additional investment it was important that the logo was printed onto alternating panels to ensure maximum exposure for the brand. Once Montagues had approved the artwork visual design proofs sent over by our design team, we then set to work printing the personalised umbrellas for the team and delivered these in just 7 working days from receiving the approved artwork design and final order information from the team at Montagues. Once the umbrellas had been delivered to Montagues office in Epping, Essex, we caught up with Managing Director of Monagues, Wayne Flegg, he said, “I have used Totally Branded on numerous occasions, the last being branded umbrellas for my business. Each and every time I have received a faultless service with immediate responses to my enquiries and delivery dates have been met without fail. I have no hesitation in recommending Taylor and his team to anyone” We thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Wayne and the team at Montagues to create there practical, quality, promotional corporate umbrellas and would like to thank them for working with us! If personalised company umbrellas branded with your company logo sound like something that would be a nice corporate giveaway to your customers, we would love to hear from you!

Printed Notepads have been around for longer than many of us have been alive and continue to be one of the most popular promotional products that companies and organisations choose to personalise with there company logo. Unlike some other promotional products such as USB memory sticks which have began to decline in popularity with the rise of cloud based software to store files and access them on multiple devices, printed desk pads continue to be in popular demand despite the advances in modern day technology. In this weeks blog we wanted to delve into why promotional notepads are such a popular branded giveaway. Let's think about you personally on any given day, whether you work a 9-5 day job and have urgent notes to jot down whilst on a phone call with a customer or are at home and need to make a quick shopping list so that you don't forget all of the countless things the family want on the food shop this week! We think that this is the main reason why printed notepads are such a popular promotional product, research conducted by the British Promotional Merchandise Association have proved that one of the most important factors when looking for the right promotional product to advertise and promote your brand is personalising a giveaway to your customers that is useful! I think the first word that does come to mind when thinking of notepads is useful to be honest. Notepads come in useful in all kinds of situations for people every day across all walks of life which is why printed desk pads are such a great giveaway as no matter who they are given away to they will come in handy either at work or at home, to jot down reminders, shopping lists, or your to do list at work in order of priority each day. Printed Notepads are a low cost and are great value for money branded giveaway and so are perfect for small businesses looking to giveaway something which will have great impact for there small business but do have to consider a budget when searching for a personalised promotional product for there new business. Because of the low cost to produce printed paper pads I think this is another reason why this product is so popular and continues to thrive as a well perceived gift by recipients even after all these years of the product being used. Notepad printing also allows you to be very creative with your design and offers very little in terms of limitations unlike some other small, and a little more limited promotional products such as pens as these have a far smaller branding area. When it comes to branded desk pads we are able to offer a range of shapes and sizes to suit the business and marketing campaign that you need notepads printed for, from A6, A5, A4, A3, and larger size notepads we can print each 80gsm uncoated white sheet of paper that is within each notepad on a full colour digital CMYK printing press which allows us to print full colour vibrant designs across the entire sheet at no additional cost offering an unlimited realm of possibilities with the design and use of your company notepads. Some people prefer the less is more approach when it comes to creating the design for there personalised notepads with just a logo at the top of the page and some printed lined notepad pages for guidance when writing whilst other people prefer a full colour edge to edge, vibrant, designed notepad and create weekly planner designs and handy schedule pads to giveaway at there trade shows and events as opposed to a standard white notepad. This is just another reason why printed notepads prove to be such a popular product as they are so diverse and customisable to suit everyone's ideas and requirements. Notepads build trust, relationships, and credibility with you and your customers. It's no secret that promotional products really do work for businesses, we all love a freebie and when its something like a notepad that saves us having to spend a few pounds buying one for ourselves at the local stationery shop it's certainly going to make your customer appreciate the gesture and improve your relationship with them just that little more. Why not send your field sales team out to visit your valued clients and hand deliver them there personalised desk pads, in our experience that added personal touch is unrivalled. Giving away some branded freebies to your clients is a great reason for your sales reps to call into your clients offices. If you need any help with your promotional notepads and would like our design team to create a free visual mock up design for you showing how your printed notepads branded with your logo and company contact details would look then just call one of our dedicated account managers today on 020 3150 2818.