Corporate Christmas Gifts: What Gets Kept, and When to Order

If you want branded Christmas gifts made and delivered in December, order by mid-November. Everything below assumes that deadline. The gift itself matters less than most buyers expect — what matters is whether the recipient keeps it, and whether it arrives before the office closes.

This is a guide to the non-bauble side of corporate Christmas: what to give clients, staff and suppliers when a tree decoration isn't the right answer, and how the ordering actually works. If it's baubles you're after, we've written a separate planning guide for corporate bauble gifting.

Start with who's receiving it

The most common mistake is choosing a gift and then working out who gets it. The recipient determines the format.

Clients

A client gift is seen by people who don't know you, in an office you'll never visit. Desk items do the work here — something that sits in view for a year rather than something consumed in a week. Branded coasters, engraved keyrings and desk signs all keep your name on a surface someone looks at daily.

Practical constraint worth knowing: many organisations, particularly in the public sector and financial services, have gift policies with a value threshold, often around £25 to £50. A modest, useful item is more likely to be accepted than something expensive that has to be declared or returned.

Staff

Staff gifts have a different test — would you keep it? A branded item someone is quietly embarrassed by is worse than nothing. Personalisation with the individual's name usually lands better than a company logo alone: it reads as a gift rather than as merchandise.

Wooden keyrings, bookmarks and coasters all take individual names. For a team of any size, that means supplying a list rather than a single design — see the ordering section below.

Suppliers and partners

Usually the smallest budget and the largest list. Consistency matters more than personalisation — one design, one logo, ordered in volume. This is where bulk pricing does the most work.

What actually gets kept

Some honest observations from what businesses reorder:

• Branded coasters — the most reliable corporate gift we make. They have a permanent place on a desk, they survive daily use, and nobody throws one away. Available in oak veneer and slate.
• Promotional keyrings — carried rather than displayed, which means they travel. Good for trade audiences and anyone on the road.
• Engraved gift tags — not a gift in themselves but a way to brand something else. Useful if you're sending hampers, bottles or product samples and want the packaging to carry your name.
• Wooden medals and awards — for teams marking a year's work rather than a season. These get kept for years, not months.

What tends not to get kept: anything disposable, anything with a logo so large it can't be used in public, and anything the recipient has three of already.

The timing question

Made-to-order means no warehouse of finished stock. Every item is engraved when it's ordered, which has consequences for planning.

Order by mid-November for December delivery. That gives room for artwork checks, engraving, and Royal Mail's busiest fortnight of the year. Current dispatch time is shown at checkout on every product and is the number to plan against.

Large orders need more room, not less. A 500-unit order with individual names is not the same job as 500 identical items, and both take longer than a single sign. If you have a fixed date — a party, a conference, an office closing for the holidays — tell us in the personalisation box and we'll confirm what's achievable before you commit.

The realistic latest date is earlier than you think. Not because of engraving, but because of everything after it. Once an order leaves us it's in the same postal system as every other Christmas parcel in the country.

How bulk pricing works

Discounts apply automatically at checkout, on quantities of the same product. No account, no quote request, no minimum order:

• 20 units — 10% off
• 50 units — 15% off
• 100 units — 20% off
• 250 units — 25% off
• 500 units — 30% off
• 1,000 units — 35% off

Two things worth knowing. Discounts are per product, so 15 coasters and 15 keyrings won't combine into a 30-unit discount — but 30 of either will. And individual personalisation doesn't cost extra: 100 keyrings with 100 different names is priced the same as 100 identical ones.

Getting a name list to us

For anything individually personalised, list each name on its own line in the personalisation box. For larger orders, a spreadsheet is easier and less error-prone — selected products accept a spreadsheet upload, and it's worth using rather than typing eighty names into a text field.

Upload before adding to the basket, not after.

Logos and artwork

Logo engraving is included at no extra cost. Black-and-white artwork engraves most crisply; most colour logos convert well, though very fine detail and thin lines can lose definition at small sizes. Upload using the logo button on the product page. If you're unsure whether your logo will work at coaster or keyring size, send it over before ordering and we'll tell you honestly.

The sustainability question

If you report on procurement or have an environmental policy, the relevant facts: our oak veneered MDF is FSC-certified, and our bamboo is FSC-certified Moso bamboo under certificate RINA-COC-001256. Packaging is plastic-free — cardboard, paper and jute throughout.

We're not ourselves an FSC certificate holder — we buy certified material — and we say so plainly rather than implying otherwise. If you need documentation for a procurement process, ask before ordering and we'll confirm what we can evidence.

Frequently asked questions

When is the latest I can order for Christmas?

Mid-November is the sensible deadline for December delivery, and earlier for large or individually personalised orders. Dispatch time is shown at checkout on every product. If you have a fixed date, tell us in the personalisation box before ordering.

Is there a minimum order for corporate gifts?

No. You can order a single item to check quality before committing to a full run. Bulk discounts apply automatically from 20 units of the same product.

Can every item have a different name?

Yes, at no additional cost. List the names in the personalisation box, one per line, or use the spreadsheet upload on products that support it.

Do you invoice, or is it card payment only?

Orders are placed and paid through the website. If your organisation requires a purchase order or invoice arrangement, get in touch before ordering.

What if our logo is complicated?

Send it to us before you order. Fine detail can lose definition when engraved at keyring or coaster size, and it's better to know that in advance than to be disappointed by the result.

Also see

Corporate Christmas bauble gifting: a planning guide · Wooden promotional products: the complete guide · Branded coasters for business · Promotional keyrings · Branded Christmas baubles