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So, imagine the situation…you’re on the website of a company that just happens to stock the finest in office furniture, namely ourselves here at http://www.office1web.ie. You’re only doing your job as a business owner by carefully scrutinising all of your company’s costs and ensuring that you get the best possible deals for such supplies. All the while, you are acutely aware that the whole of Ireland remains in the centre of great economic uncertainty, so it goes without saying that you’ll be shopping for the cheapest furniture that we sell. Right?

Well, not necessarily. Because, if any investment can prove to be a false economy it is office furniture supplies. For one thing, you have to remember the old adage that “you get what you pay for” as far as this kind of thing is concerned. We’ve previously covered in this blog, for example, the dangers of picking the lowest quality office chairs, although thankfully, none of those unsafe chairs are to be found on sale here at Office1web.

It does still have to be said, though, that any cheap piece of office furniture is likely to last for a shorter time than a more expensive one. That’s just the way of the world! By forking out just a bit more money, therefore, you can find yourself with furniture that more than pays for the extra cost over time. Offices, after all, are places where furniture can be used particularly vigorously, including by employees that haven’t stopped to think of the money that you’ll have shelled out to make them comfortable.

Don’t forget, too, that a higher price for a piece of furniture often means a greater number of bells and whistles, with the more expensive filing cabinets, for example, incorporating such features as greater numbers of drawers and superior locking systems. And many of these range-topping items of office furniture also tend to look better, which might just be a factor when you consider the importance of leaving prospective clients with the best possible impression of your company – which has only increased with the heightened competition of recent times.

It isn’t automatically the case, then, that the very real budgetary constraints that have been imposed on Irish businesses force you to opt for only the very cheapest office desks, chairs and other furniture pieces. Even so, we would also urge you not to splurge on pricier office furniture purely for the sake of doing so. Just imagine the resentment that could result, for example, if you were to splash out on a really luxurious chair for your own use, while leaving your employees with the crummiest computer desks and chairs.

From desks, tables and filing cabinets to pedestals, screens and computer workstations, here at http://www.office1web.ie, we’re proud to offer as much of the best office furniture as you’ll ever need!

As you would expect from the home of great value office products, here at Office1web (http://www.office1web.ie) we’re a fan of all sorts of office supplies. However, we think there are some that work harder than others; office products that most of us just couldn’t do without but which are not necessarily seen to be as ubiquitous as computers or office desks, for example. Here are some office products which we think are the unsung heroes of the office.

Plants – you may not think of plants as office supplies but we think that an office without a plant or two is a sad place indeed. That’s why we’ve included a good range of artificial plants in our range of office products. Yes, real plants have the added benefits of creating oxygen in the room, but only as long as they’re alive and for that they need regular watering! Choose our artificial plants and you don’t have to worry about upkeep but they will still give your office an attractive look and pleasant, calming feel, just from having some greenery around. They’re also great when used as room dividers and for providing privacy.

White boards – in an increasingly touch screen world, a world where the keyboard is king and pens will one day be obsolete, we’re here to sing the praises of the humble white board. They may seem old school to some, but white boards are a fantastic way to share ideas, to display thought processes and plans of action, and they really help to brainstorm. What’s more, white boards are way cheaper than iPads and much bigger!

Screens – such a simple piece of office equipment, but we think they give great bang for their buck. Screens help you maximise the potential of your office floor space by delineating areas, and because they provide privacy you can actually fit more desks in. They also cut down on noise and provide a secluded place to work and an area which employees can make they’re own by adding a plant or putting up a picture of a loved one, without cluttering up the whole office.

The kettle – we think this is the unsung hero of any office. After all, who could get through the average working day without a strong coffee to kick off their morning and an afternoon cuppa to get them through that afternoon lull? We stock everything from a budget kettle through to the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art coffee machines, so why not treat yourself and upgrade your kettle when you make your next stationery order?

That’s our list of the office products which we think are the unsung heroes of the office – what are yours? Check out our huge range of office supplies at http://www.office1web.ie and get inspired!

As you’d expect from an office supplies company, here at Office1web (http://www.office1web.ie) we’ve always been proponents of clean, de-cluttered office desks and workstations. After all, we stock thousands upon thousands of office products which are designed to organise your desktop stationery and paper supplies so you can work more effectively. However, new research indicates that messy office desks could in fact help employees to think more clearly!

Scientists from the University of Groningen in Germany found that people who worked on messy office desks (as well as from messy shop fronts), thought more clearly than those with organised, mess-free work areas. It is thought that working among chaos makes the brain seek order and therefore organise thoughts in a clear and concise way.

The researchers behind the study say, “Messy desks may not be as detrimental as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees’ creativity in problem solving. Business and government managers often promote ‘clean desk’ policies to avoid disorganised offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity. This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganised and messy environment can clutter one’s mind and complicate one’s judgements. However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind.”

Those who still believe that tidy office desks lead to tidy minds can take comfort in the fact that the study revealed that not all people found their mind was ordered if their desks were not, however. Strangely, while conservatives among the study group did think more clearly when using messy office desks, political liberals weren’t particularly concerned about the state of their desk to begin with and so it had little effect on their thinking or productivity.

So why not use this new research to explain to your boss why your desk is piled high with files, old, opened envelopes and various office products – you’re not being messy, you’re being productive!

For those of you who can’t stand the thought of working in chaos, however, take a look through all of our office products which will help you de-clutter your desk at http://www.office1web.ie

It’s hard to believe  that we have our existing office supplies online store for over 3 years.
We have 20,000 Office products online and by gum it takes some amount of time to manage the product file, the prices, the stock levels….the list goes on….just ask Mark….he is basically having an office supplies love affair with spreadsheets and databases.
So we’re on online office supplies company.
Online being the key!! Don’t get me wrong, we love when you all buy office supplies but do you have to call us in the phone so much?
Irelands office supplies purchasers love to chat….they love to ask about a particular size or about a particular shade of blue on a specific lever arch file. Eh hello! 20,000 products and counting…let me just check my back pocket for the specification on that particular shade of blue post It note!!
Relax, I’m just kidding!!! You can call us and ask us whatever you like!! You can even ask us things unrelated to office supplies but be warned, someday we may just do a Michael O’Leary on it….and make it easier to get audience with the Pope than speak to one of our office supplies nerds!!  I’m giddy today! Don’t call Joe Duffy on me!!!
We do really value our customers, without whom we would not have been so successful over the past 3 years….it’s tough starting a business in a recession, particularly in the price sensitive office supplies world but I am happy to say www.office1web.ie are here to stay and will continue to bring you the most consistent pricing for online office products.
Buy your office supplies off Irish Owned Companies.

There I was surfing Time Magazine online and I somehow managed to stumble upon an article written in 1981 stating that the office supplies world was on the cusp on changing forever. The writer, Christopher Byron, was hastily telling his readers that they needed to prepare for an electronic tsunami and the elimination of copying paper from the office supplies cupboard.

Well we all know that Christopher Byron was somewhat correct. We all rely on pc’s, laptops and office printers to do our daily jobs. But we also rely on copier paper more than ever. Of all the office supplies on our website we sell more reams of paper than any other item. So the paperless office is pretty much not happening.
Some of the worlds larger companies have gone a long way to achieving a paperless workspace. The advantage they have  is money and they have entire corporate social responsibility departments that can implement such streamlining.
For small to medium sized companies the reality is that computers mean more paper and more printing and more orders to your local office supplies company.
Here at www.office1web.ie we have a finance meeting every Thursday morning. Our accountant arrives with about 500 printed sheets of copy paper under his arm? He brings copies for everybody…even after he has already emailed us the documents. I hope he doesn’t read this blog :)
Anyway , with accountants like John, the paper supplies cartels of northern  Europe will continue to thrive and you will continue to add office paper to your weekly office supplies order!!
Long live Office Supplies!

Here at Office 1 we have decided to lobby the Irish government to ban copier paper. It is a curse on mankind. Of all the office supplies in the world this is the one product we would like to see the back of. 

But you make loads of money on it?? No we don’t! We lose money every day on copier paper. It’s effectively a loss leader for every single office supplies retailer and wholesaler in Ireland. The only people that make money on copier paper are the cartels that control all of the paper mills in Europe.

 There are a number of reasons we hate copier paper in the office supplies world. First of all, it’s heavy and awkward. Secondly, it’s expensive to ship, expensive to store and expensive to deliver. To top it all off we don’t make a schilling on it.

So why do we not make money on it? They make tonnes of money on copier paper in America where office supply companies charge upwards of $30 a box.  There has been a tradition in Ireland that copier paper is the benchmark for whether an office supply company is good value or not. So basically if you sold cheap copy paper then you could basically charge what you like on the rest of the 20,000 office supplies. Now people and companies have become more astute in recent years but it is still very much a benchmarking tool for buyers. 

Customers will very often argue about 10 cents on the price of a ream of paper and not even discuss the €200 laser toner cartridge they are ordering for the office printer. 

 So the next time you’re placing your order for office supplies, think again before ordering that paper….do you really need it? Save the planet and save our sanity! 

Theft in the workplace is becoming more common in Ireland during these hard pressed times. We all send the odd personal email or take a pen home now and again. However, the theft of office property is becoming more common for very obvious reasons. 

 Office supplies are an easy target for office thieves. In fact many employees have a sense of entitlement when it comes to office supplies.

 So have you ever dipped your fingers into the stationery cupboard and brought home a little stash if office supplies. Well it all adds up and theft of office supplies costs Irelands businesses millions of euro every year. 

 There are some very simple steps companies can take to protect the office supplies cupboard from light fingers. 

 1. Lock the office supplies press and assign a dedicated key holder within each department

2. Use a purchase order to buy office products – they generally eliminate the ‘nice to have’ items

3. Have an approval system. No office supplies should be bought without hierarchical approval.

4. Buy office supplies online from a company like www.office1web.ie - this way you can track exact spend by department.

5. Ban certain categories. Do not buy your toilet rolls or coffee from your office supplies company. Buy them in a cash and carry or a Supermarket.

6. Do a Ryanair on it and ban post it notes from the office. 

7. Don’t use an expensive copier paper – it’s not worth it and never noticed either way

8. Don’t leave your toners beside the printer. Keep them locked up. Toners can cost up to €200 each in some cases.

9. Make one order per week or month for office supplies – random ordering encourages theft

10. Don’t buy brand names. People will be less likely to steal them. 

 So there you have it. Spend less on office supplies by implementing proper procedures today to avid theft. It’s more common ten you think.

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