Some people view their pens simply as functional tools to be used for the simple task of writing, but I think most of the nation [correct me if I’m wrong] have their favourites and secretly adore their pen. Have a look around and see what kind of pen the people around you are using.

Somehow, I don't think that people are jetting off to Acapulco, but there's news that the UK's small businesses (SME's) have been spending more on travel recently, according to Visa.

I think we’d all agree the old saying ‘never mix business with pleasure’ is a pretty good rule to follow.  It helps to establish some boundaries between work and home…and it may even prevent us from dabbling in questionable office romances. 

Consider a recycled envelope. What is it exactly? What is it that makes an envelope "recycled"? "It's...um....green?"
Ok. So it's green. But what exactly does that mean? 
It means that the paper is made in such a way that water and energy use is less than in the conventional paper manufacturing process, that tree harvesting is reduced, and that waste products are decreased.

Late payments are costing small businesses dear, according to a report by the Small Business Research Centre (SBRC) at Kingston Business School. The government does not pay up quickly either, with one in five small businesses waiting more than 10 days to be paid for public sector work, despite government claims that payments would be speeded up.

It was Oscar Wilde who said we have everything in common with America, except language. I don't think that he ever worked in office supplies, but we do know that Stateside, our common all garden stationery products have totally different names. (If the office wag tells you that 'rubber' is US slang for condom, erase it from your memorybank.)

Do you think that workers in the public sector have been protected from the economic downturn?  The Institute of Directors (IoD) certainly thinks so. Most IoD members run small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and its survey of 1,300 members revealed that nearly 50% of them have had their pay frozen or are on a 'pay holiday'. In addition 40% of company bosses had cut their bonuses.

The Met Office may have backtracked on its promises of a ‘barbecue summer’, but you’d never know it with all the shorts, t-shirts, skimpy tops and sandals around the office.  Yes, it’s summer and the line between what is and isn’t appropriate to wear in the workplace is once again being kicked around by flip-flop clad feet.

Here's a little test: in which year do you think the following remark was made?

'While we are on the Palace of Westminster, may I remind all Hon. Members that office staff should not use Tippex (sic) for hiding typing errors?

It's a reflex action. You reach for the Scotch Tape on your desk, to seal an envelope, stick down an errant piece of a document or perhaps to patch up your specs, and you don't give it a second thought. We take Scotch Tape for granted, but few of us know that it's approaching its 80th birthday and was originally designed to be an attractive, moisture-proof way to seal the cellophane wrap used by grocers and bakers.

The UK economy could have reached a plateau in terms of 'corporate distress', according to latest data from Deloitte.  

It may be a daydream – a neat and tidy desk, with all your essential office stuff within easy reach. You simply scan the stacked letter trays, and bingo you can lay your hands on exactly the items that you need.

If there's one thing you like to hear it's a filing cabinet drawer clicking shut, packed with neat suspension files. But then comes the day, when horror of horrors, your habit of dropping heavy reports and catalogues into the suspension files has taken its toll and they are not up to taking the weight.

With summer holidays coming up, we decided to do a survey to find out how many of you lovely people will get in touch with the office when you're off on your hols.

Why is it that paperwork always seems to expand to fit the space available, and you're all fingers and thumbs when it comes to tackling that pile of filing? It's frustrating trying to place documents neatly in a lever arch file when the prongs are mismatched (think sore knuckles), or when the file won't open flat to allow you to insert the papers with ease.

The big banks are back in business again, with Barclays and HSBC reporting combined profits of £6bn in investment banking.

Having read one of our earlier posts about what’s on our desks and being incredibly proud of the organised chaos laid out before me (from a cuddly turtle and a spider plant in desperate need of re-potting to a selection of desktop stationery and my desk vacuum in the shape of a cow), I decided I wanted to delve a little bit deeper and check the contents of my pedestal drawers. This was more of a daunting prospect than you’d think- I haven’t delved into the depths of these drawers for a good few months…

In a previous life I often used to find myself wrapping up unusually shaped items, mainly car parts, that needed to be shipped. Once you have learnt to wrap part of an engine, a box or a present seems a doddle/piece of cake. But before you can become an expert wrapper, you need to learn the basics – what fits into what.

With the current media onslaught of “swine flu” most of us have been left feeling just a little confused as to how worried we should be,  what practical steps should be taken to reduce the risk of us contracting the illness and how businesses can reduce the risk to their employees.

The Business Advisory Network for Flu (BANF) has been set up by the Cabinet Office to help businesses prepare for the effects of swine flu. They have issued a document detailing the planning assumptions that businesses can make to prepare for the impacts of Swine flu.