Tag: Office supplies

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Can the right business supplies help your productivity?

Most business owners know that if their staff are safe and happy in their working environment, they will be more productive. As well as health and safety and a pleasant atmosphere, there are other things that can help to keep your productivity levels at maximum, such as having enough business supplies as and when they need them. Here are just a few problems that could be created by a lack of the business supplies they need.

Paper

A totally paperless office is a myth. You can confirm this by walking into any office anywhere in Ireland and you will see paper in use. It’s in printers, photocopiers, on desks. It is used for all types of things from pads for making notes through to top quality paper for reports. Paper should be one of the basic business supplies that you never run out of.

You could be about to go into a meeting and need to take a report with you, but if your office has a lack of paper, you will have a problem. At Loco Office Supplies you will find every type of paper your office could need, and as always, at the best prices in Ireland with next day delivery.

The same applies to printer supplies, such as inks and toners – a lack of them could also cause you problems.

Desk accessories

Including desk top accessories in your business supplies is a wise move. Things such as staplers, paperclips, scissors, calculators, and desk tidies might not be used every hour of every day. However, if an employee needs a stapler, for instance, nothing else will do the job as efficiently.

Would you really want them to have to rip papers that are important, rather than cut them neatly with a pair of scissors? Most smartphones have a calculator on them, but they do not compare to a desktop calculator for quality and the speed with which they can be used. Never think that desk accessories are a waste of money when you are buying business supplies. They can all be very useful and will not cost you a fortune when you get them from Loco Office Supplies.

Office furniture

Decent office furniture will not only make your office look better; it is safer for your employees. Maybe you originally bought your furniture new but now it’s a few years old. Maybe you’re a newer business and as a start up bought used furniture to start with to save cash.

Whatever the reason, just remember that if a wobbly chair collapses and the employee is injured, you are ultimately responsible. In this scenario you could find yourself facing a personal injury claim for compensation as well as getting in trouble with the health and safety authorities.

Whether your office furniture is starting to be less safe and secure, or you just want to refurbish your office, take a look at the range we have at Loco Office Supplies, as we cater for all your business supplies.

Keeping employees warm, or cool

If you want the best from your employees, you do not want them to be more worried about keeping warming or trying to get cool than concentrating on their job. It’s important to maintain a comfortable temperature in your office no matter what the weather outside is doing.

When you are considering buying business supplies, take a look at the range of fan heaters, panel heaters and fans. We offer a full range of these items at Loco Office Supplies.

Lighting

One thing that is often overlooked when businesses are buying their business supplies is adequate lighting. The best, without a doubt, is as much natural light as possible. However, the next best thing are LED lights. They do not make the noise associated with fluorescent lighting, and they are more flexible than any of type of bulb.

LED gives and even light that can be controlled in different parts of the office, and the colour can even be changed if the need arises.

Bad lighting can cause eyestrain and headaches and that will contribute towards your staff being less productive. Make sure this does not happen and include some LED lights when you buy your business supplies from Loco Office Supplies.

To make them even more attractive, they are cheaper to run and need replacing less often. When they do need to be replaced, they are eco-friendlier to dispose of.

Rest time facilities

Throughout the day your employees are going to need breaks. Some business owners feel it is up to the staff top make their own arrangements for food and drink, and to have them at their desk or workstation.

However, you can show you staff how much you value them by providing a few basic facilities for their breaktimes. An area with a few comfy chairs is a good start, but then if you have a fridge, kettle, toaster and a microwave, they can contribute to making your employees more content. It means they do not have to go out in the bad winter months to buy their lunch and gives them somewhere to relax for a while, so they go back to work more refreshed and alert.

We have everything you need at Loco Office Supplies and you should seriously consider these things when you are buying business supplies.

Your one stop shop

At Loco Office Supplies, we are your one stop shop for all your business supplies. We have a range of more than 22,000 products and offer next day delivery anywhere in Ireland.  As the home of cheap business supplies, you can be assured of a good price as well as unbeatable quality and excellent customer service.

Take a look at our online store at loco.ie or give us a call on 01 685 2558. You can email us if you prefer at [email protected]. However you decide to get in touch, we are certain you will not regret getting your business supplies from us.

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3 Ways To Declutter Your Office Once And For All

You Know It Has Been Playing On Your Mind So Here Are 3 Steps To Do So.

An office which is free of clutter and mess is a more productive office. Unfortunately, with the hustle and bustle within busy offices these days, meeting tight deadlines and always being preoccupied it is very easy to let clutter build and overcrowd your workplace. You may be procrastinating about cleaning, perhaps you don’t even know where or how to start. Good thing for you Loco Office Supplies will equip you with the knowledge to do just that.

What Do You Need And What Stays Unused?

Don’t be a hoarder and keep every single thing laying around. Write out a simple list of everything you use over the course of several weeks. Back to basics like do you need a notepad and pens? Of course, your computer is going to be on that list too. What’s left out of that list but remains on your desk or elsewhere could be donated or digitalised.

Set Out A Cleaning Agenda

Have a whiteboard in the office or a calendar pinned to the wall? Set out a cleaning schedule to ensure desks stay clean and dust doesn’t build up on the floor. Rotate the cleaning schedule each week and assign different employees to the task.

Consider Donating Or Taking Home Excess Items

Once you know what needs to stay and what needs to go, separate these into the relevant sections. Those extra cables left laying around you could perhaps take home or donate to a neighbouring office. Or perhaps those extra files could be stored in a filing cabinet instead of being left on your desk.

Don’t keep what doesn’t support your work. Being able to identify the purpose for every item or system in your office space will help with this process. There’s really no room for duplicates. And, if what you need to get rid of cannot be donated there’s always the option of recycling.

  • Digitalise what you can and bin or file the print versions. You don’t need business cards of clients or employees if you add them on LinkedIn.
  • Promotional free products you received at seminars or various events are no match for awards or certificates of achievement. Prioritise what you really need.
  • Consider all in one units such as a machine that offers scanning, printing and fax options. All in one units can save some much needed space in the workplace.

Want More Tips?

Don’t fret, come back next month to read 3 additional tips on how to declutter your office once and for all.

Loco Office Supplies, the number one online platform for all the office supplies you will ever need. Sift through the clutter and pick out the essentials. Until next time, happy shopping!

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The Importance of Filing Cabinets In Your Office

Busy office with a lot of paperwork? Filing Cabinets are the solution.

The bustling on goings of any modern-day office setting. Papers and files cast across desks not having any place to go. Try as you might your desk always seems to be cluttered.

As they say, the less organised your space is the more disorganised your mind will be. There is a certain calmness and structure to having a clean office space. It is quite a positive feeling.

So how do you combat the untidy space? Filing cabinets, that’s what. Here are three important reasons why you should have filing cabinets in your office if you don’t already.

Organisation

We are in the digital age, no doubt about that. You probably use a form of digital documentation daily. Perhaps you create documents using Microsoft Word and save them in a folder on your desktop computer. Standard.

Now there’s still a use for paper even if we are in the digital age. Contracts are printed, meetings are held and documented, reports and guidelines are all put on paper but where to put them?

Filing cabinets are a great way and so helpful to store everything in the one place so you keep your desk tidy and even your boss happy.

Categorisation

You’ve organised all your documents into the one place. Fantastic! Everything on the outside appears tidy. How about on the inside? Are all your documents just thrown in together?

Filing cabinets help you to not only organise all your documents but to categorise them. Say you have documents for different clients. You are going to need to categorise these documents into different folders.

Filing cabinets can help you do this. Organisation and categorisation solved. Simples.

Added Security

Now that’s cleared up we will move on to our last point which is definitely not the least by any means.

Filing cabinets are important for added security. Different types of locks are available to keep your valuable and confidential information that extra bit safe.

How Loco Can Help

Loco Office Supplies is the home for Ireland’s extensive range of office supplies, including filing cabinets.

Some things simply have to be printed and filed. If you don’t have filing cabinets in your office well know is the time to invest in them.

At Loco we offer a wide range of wood file cabinets to metal file cabinets to suit all tastes. Whatever the budget we have a suitable price range to match.

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What are the must-have office stationery supplies?

As much discussion as there has been in recent years about the ‘paperless desk’, the reality is that, as almost anybody who has ever walked into an office will be able to vouch for, the average office is showing no sign of living up to that ideal any time soon!

And besides, why would you necessarily even want to have an office that was devoid of paper? After all, even the most IT-dominated office environment can be made more functional and efficient with the help of some well-chosen simple stationery, and here at Loco (http://www.loco.ie), we can point you towards the right stuff to buy.

Why? Well, because we’re a renowned source of all kinds of office supplies in Ireland, with our stationery selection being particularly enviable. But of course, especially when you are moving into an office for the first time – perhaps as a result of a new business start-up – you’ll want to know what stationery you are best advised to purchase.

The truth is that there’s much more to choosing the right office stationery than merely investing in some staples and paperclips, and even suddenly finding yourself short of something as simple as some binders or printer paper can hamper your productivity to a surprisingly great extent.

Of all the office stationary items that are available to buy, paper is surely the most obvious. It’s this stuff that you’ll need to have plenty of in your printer when there’s that vital business document that needs to be printed off. Or you may use paper to make random notes, among many other possible functions. The Loco online store is a fine source of a comprehensive range of paper supplies, including printer paper and copier paper.

Alternatively, you may be in need of items with which to write, such as ball pens, fountain pens, markers and highlighters and of course, many of these are useless without certain associated accessories such as a whiteboard or two.

Once you’ve purchased those, in such a deadline-dominated environment as an office, you’ll probably then want to consider those business supplies that are so invaluable in helping office employees to keep to their schedules, such as diaries and calendars.

Other must-have stationery items for your office include files and folders, which are invaluable for storing everything from legal documents to employee records. In this category, we stock everything from lever arch files and ring binders to plastic wallets and box files.

And of course, there are so many other examples of office stationery that you may or may not also be required to purchase, including everything from small desk calculators for the rapid working out of vital sums, to envelopes in which to send those all-important documents. With Loco (http://www.loco.ie), you are assured of a generous selection of must-have office supplies.

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Which office products are the unsung heroes of your office?

As you would expect from the home of great value office products, here at Loco (http://www.Loco.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.Loco.ie and get inspired!

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Your messy office desk may help you think more clearly!

As you’d expect from an office supplies company, here at Loco (http://www.Loco.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.Loco.ie

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Would you steal office supplies?

Believe it or not stealing office supplies has become more and more common in this digital age. It is hard to give a reason why. Maybe it’s that we no longer have the same respect for money or we simply don’t care.

Would you take a pen home from the office supplies cabinet? Would you ‘borrow’ a stapler and not return it to the office? More and more of us think it is ok to take office supplies home to the kids or home office.

Well more and more companies are onto light fingered employees who think it’s ok to raid the office supplies cabinet and take stuff home.  Many companies have initiated a full stock control system for office supplies. Meaning that each employee must sign for every single office product they take from the stock room. The days of open office supplies cabinets are well and truly gone in many progressive companies. Some bigger companies spend well in excess of €100,000 per annum on office supplies. It is believed that up to 20% of these office products can go missing through waste and theft, so it is well worth their while to monitor the stationery cupboard more closely.

The list of office supplies that people tend to thieve is not surprising. Top of the list is the old fashioned pen. Followed by envelopes and ink cartridges. Ink cartridges are probably the most expensive office supplies bought on a regular basis, so the monetary value can  add up very quickly.

So would you steal from your local shop or your local supermarket? Well then don’t steal office supplies from your employer. You’re lucky enough to have a job!!!!

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What role do books, pads and albums have to play in the 21st century office?

Books, pads and albums have long been among the most prominent office stationary, whether they take pride of place on the reception desk or are instead stuffed into the pocket of the overworked company director. However, you might think that such primitive things have long been superseded these days, given the emergence of tablet computers and smartphones. Well, here at Loco (http://www.Loco.ie), we’re here to remind you that they haven’t.

The truth is that many of us just haven’t yet fallen in love with such sophisticated devices when it comes to more work-like activities than watching YouTube videos or idly surfing the online news pages. Plus, there is such an astounding choice of affordable and high quality books, pads and albums in the business supplies range at Loco that it’s barely worth fiddling around with a pricey app that you’ll probably forget about as soon as you put the device back in your pocket.

Traditional books, pads and albums are easy to use for technophiles and technophobes alike, and are instantly recognisable. In a world in which absolutely everything now seems to be done via a screen, it’s somehow reassuring to be presented with something as tactile as a pen and paper. Such popular items of stationery as manuscript and business card books keep everything in one place. Plus, you don’t have to worry about Internet viruses and other nasties threatening your information.

You’d be amazed at the no-nonsense practical use that you can get out of a book, pad or album, not least courtesy of the astounding range of designs and sizes that we offer. Our manuscript books, for example, protect your notes over the long term thanks to their fully cased, sturdy hardback covers and spines. Or maybe you need a signature book that allows you to keep together your office’s vital signing-in documents? Not only do they have durable polypropylene covers, but their label inserts are also easily replaced.

Our current selection of pads, meanwhile, includes high quality analysis pads with quality white wove paper printed with line and column numbers, complete with a reference box at the head of the sheet. Or maybe you could do with accounts books that allow you to keep your company’s financial affairs in better order? We also sell memo pads on which to jot down daily activities, repositional notes – perhaps better known as sticky notes or post-its – and duplicate books consisting of no carbon required (NCR) paper, meaning that you can instantly and permanently duplicate messages.

It’s not as if you even have to be an office worker to take an interest in our books, pads and albums, with drawing pads for artists and students and visitors books for hotels and guest houses being just a few of our other popular items of stationery here at Loco (http://www.Loco.ie). Happy shopping!

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Keep forgetting stuff? Why not pick up a cheap wall or notice board?

In today’s world, it seems like we have to constantly manage an avalanche of information. Indeed, it’s been said that today’s era is the Information Age, where you’re in much greater danger of being overwhelmed with data than under-stimulated, and you’d struggle to find anyone working in an office in Ireland who disagrees. But having said that, do we really still need such ‘old-fashioned’ equipment as notice and white boards from places like Loco (http://www.Loco.ie)?

The answer for many of us is a rather surprising “yes”. But allow us to explain. You might have thought that in the year 2012, when it seems that hardly any of us doesn’t have a smartphone or tablet computer with some kind of calendar or notes app on it, the trusty old notice board would be a thing of the past. The problem is, though, that many of us can simply forget about our sophisticated devices during the day, and with it, all of those vitally important appointments and work deadlines.

In any case, why would you want to depend on a small device shoved in your pocket, when you can have something big and prominent right in front of you in the office, providing a much-needed constant reminder of your commitments for the coming days, weeks or even months? After all, many of us are stuck in the office constantly anyway, slaving away over the latest big assignment well into the evening, so you might as well ensure that those things that you need to do are not left ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

This brings us nicely to the wall and notice boards that take pride of place amongst our wider range of business supplies here at Loco. You might just want a simple drywipe board on which to jot down and rub out assignment information, meeting minutes and diagrams to your heart’s content, and sure enough, we have plenty of those. Alternatively, you may want to take a look at our many notice boards, on which you can pin that latest relevant press release, letter of thanks from a client or even a photo of your loved ones to keep you company over a long work day.

In keeping with our status as the complete online office supplies store, we also offer appropriate notice board and dryboard accessories, ranging from large headed pins and wipe board eraser wipes to erasing spray and dryboard pens that provide bright marks that can be wiped off easily without trace. Who would have thought that there were so many office products associated with wall and notice boards and keeping track of vital everyday information?

Nor are we even restricted to office equipment, as we sell a range of chalk boards that can be a good choice for both the school and the office. Simply visit http://www.Loco.ie today for a closer look at the wider range of wall and notice boards that we offer.

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Office paper…how complicated could it possibly be?

If paper isn’t amongst the business supplies that you regularly shop for here at Loco (http://www.loco.ie), then you may be curious as to how you could possibly make the wrong choice when the time does finally come to stock up on some. After all, you might have reckoned to yourself… paper is paper is paper, right? And aren’t we supposed to have left paper behind by now, anyway? Aren’t we supposed to be in the age of the ‘paperless office’?

Well, the answer to that last question may be “yes”, but try saying that to anyone who suddenly remembers something that they need to do for a tight deadline that night. More likely than not, instead of noting it on a whiteboard or even the ‘notes’ app of a tablet computer, they’ll reach for a pen and paper before carrying on their merry way. Clearly, we human beings aren’t quite ready to move on from paper yet, and that’s before one considers the continued relevance of high quality printing.

Although many business communications may take place via email these days, you might still want to print out details to keep from time to time, while there are also many other potential reasons to use the old fashioned ‘snail mail’ – such as for title deeds, signed documents and wills. At all times, making the right choice of printer paper and similar supplies helps to maintain the most positive and professional image – and goodness knows how much office-based companies in Ireland need that in the light of the recent economic turbulence.

In keeping with our proud status as the ultimate one-stop shop for office supplies, here at Loco we offer not only printer and copier paper but also the likes of labels, books, envelopes and pads. From 80gsm A4 paper and wide format paper to preprinted stationery and blotting paper, you’ll soon realise that there are many different types of paper that offices require, distinguished by different sizes, colours, weights and textures.

Choosing the wrong type of paper for your given office printer or copier can have disastrous results, so read carefully. For your laser printer or copier that produces text and image using heat and toner, you’ll need to purchase the smoother paper that produces the crispest results. Meanwhile, textured paper is more suitable for the water based ink of inkjet printers, as the ink is able to dry faster. This means that you’ll have sharper text and images with reduced bleeding.

In addition to this, Loco (http://www.loco.ie) offers a vast range of envelopes, including preprinted envelopes, padded bags, machine envelopes and gusset envelopes. Our labels range, meanwhile, encompasses the likes of copier labels, address labels and laser labels, and we also sell the likes of duplicate books, repositional notes and signature books. It all demonstrates the real and continued relevance of paper in an office environment that is also more technologically advanced than ever.