The cardboard box changed the world, but that was 150 years ago.  Since then this fabulously versatile material has enjoyed a modest press, but in the environmentally sensitive, cost-conscious world of 2010 its time may have come.

Red-Inc in Brighton is proud to have just been awarded the official supplier status of Cardboard Future Products for the South East. The product and company sit well with their philosophy and values, they are great company to do business with and have a great product that ticks all the boxes. They will be show casing one of these fantastic products very soon and will hold stock of them for next day delivery.

You might like to have one in your office as a demo, use it, and let them know how you get on with it and the reactions people give you. I guarantee it will cause a stir, and the questions will be one we all will want to know “Is it strong enough?”

They make excellent permanent desks and alternatively can be used at events and promotional days.

If you are interested in this product please feel free to contact red-inc.net on 0845 180 0005

This spring cardboardfuture.com launch a range of fun and practical furniture products for the home and office made entirely of pristine corrugated board designed and built in England to mirror the mood of the times.

Simple, clean design combined with clever engineering makes these products extremely light, immensely strong, fully functional and excellent value for money.

Starting with the stunning Paperweight desk, they are rolling out a comprehensive product range to include storage, pedestals, book shelves, wardrobes, beds, and tables in a wide range of shapes and sizes.

Check out the full story on www.cardboardfuture.com

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Posted under Environment

When it comes to travelling, preparation is part of the whole process. Nobody wants their holiday spirits dampened by something that can be avoided, in particular forgetting to budget for those all important holiday extras.

And with so many things to think about other than simply your flights and accommodation, it is easy to see how booking your airport parking gets overlooked. However, arriving at the airport without a pre-booked space can be costly and time consuming, eating into time and money that could be better spent whilst on your travels.

Specialist airport parking provider, Airparks, advises customers to book their parking online to avoid being caught out on the day. It is always frustrating to find out you could have saved money in any case and advanced booking is a quick, easy and hassle free way to cut costs when you arrive at the airport.

The company Airparks, established in 1991, offers a comprehensive range of airport parking options with the ultimate goal of offering the lowest prices available for both on and off site car parking spaces. Airparks pride themselves on covering all products with a ‘Best Price Guarantee’ policy to ensure they won’t be beaten on price.

Take Luton airport parking for example. Booking a space in advance through Airparks can save you up to £13.00 per day with a charge from as little as £5.00 per day, a saving of over two thirds of the price charged at the gate. Of course, prices vary according to location, time of the year and the duration of your stay so it is recommended to take this into consideration whilst trying to find the best money-saving options.

With the choice of on or offsite parking for a number of airport locations across the UK, be sure to choose the option most suitable for your needs. This will not only be more cost effective, but reduce the stress factor too. For example if you are travelling with young children and do not wish to wait for a transfer bus, then on-airport parking may be the right option for you. A range of services are available for Gatwick, Birmingham, Luton and Cardiff airport parking to name a few, so make sure you do your research before confirming your final booking.

Regardless of how much of a great deal you managed to get on your holiday this year, don’t be stung by the additional costs of your trip that can leave you kicking yourself for not preparing in advance. Book your airport parking online, before you travel so you can arrive at the airport stress-free and enjoy your holiday from the onset.

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Posted under Travel & Holiday

Many of us have watched funny video clips on YouTube. Some of those clips have now made it into the vault of famous videos that reach millions of viewers. The internet has made it possible for some individuals to become a phenomenon overnight, especially if their talent can build a group of loyal followers.

One such man is Richard Vobes who didn’t become well known through a video on YouTube but through an internet podcast website, the Vobes show. A podcast is like a downloadable radio station which you can listen to in MP3 format at your convenience.

Richard Vobes founder of the Vobes show runs his podcasts from a beach hut in Worthing West Sussex. He is one of the UK’s most prolific podcasters on the internet with fans including Jonathan Ross and Danny Baker.

In a phone call made to the Vobes show a man introduced himself as Jonathan Ross and asked Richard how he was. Understandably Richard was a little concerned that he might be talking to an imposter. “What THE Jonathan Ross?” he asked. To which came the reply, “The one and only. There are probably some others but I expect I am the one you’re thinking of.” Jonathan went on to prove his identity by using his unique wit. What impresses me is that Jonathan is willing to give his time and support in order to encourage others.

You can listen to the phone call on the vobes show without needing to subscribe. Have a listen and if you want to support Richard Vobes too you can subscribe to his podcasts and download them for only £2 a month. A small price to pay for the UK’s most prolific podcaster with followers like Jonathan Ross and Danny Baker!

Richard Vobes, also known as Vobes, is an entertainer, actor, film maker and professional podcaster who has produced over 1000 shows since January 2005. He does two podcasts, one simply called VOBES (previously the Richard Vobes Radio Show) which is typically about 30 to 40 minutes in length and is broadcast from the ‘beach hut’ near his house in Worthing, West Sussex, England, while the other is a behind-the-scenes personal audio journal entitled The Naked Englishman. His VOBES show ranges from commentary on recent news events to Friday night beer reviews, as well as to a wide variety of audio tours from all over the UK.

The Richard Vobes Radio Show has been a People’s Choice Podcast Awards Winner. Prior to finding his love of podcasting, Richard had some success pitching TV ideas to UK television companies. As a result, Richard starred in, wrote and produced two series of the children’s TV show ‘Snug and Cozi’

Follow @vobes on Twitter.

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Posted under Working From Home

Brits paint the equivalent of Great Britain more than 200 times over according to new insight from Homebase. This is the collective distance of 50 journeys to the moon and an average of 36 rooms per person during their DIY lifetime. The research into the nation’s DIY habits was conducted to mark the launch of Homebase’s Value range, a collection of more than 300 budget home essentials covering DIY, gardening, home and decorating.

Half of Brits surveyed say they would decorate more if it was cheaper, with one in six admitting they have never decorated a single room in their life. People can now decorate without having to worry about the cost with the new Homebase Value collection of budget essentials including 150 items for under £5. The range aims to keep the cost of our love of DIY and gardening to a minimum, encouraging people to pick up a paintbrush or trowel and not worry about the pounds.

The survey showed that there are certainly some rooms that get more attention than others and the living room comes out as the real favourite. More than 50 per cent of people questioned said it was their favourite place to decorate, while the hall or landing were most frequently neglected.

Simon Yeomans, category marketing manager for Homebase comments: “Our research proves that the nation truly has a love for DIY. Almost ten per cent of people questioned would rather be decorating than socialising. We want people to feel inspired and know that they don’t need to spend a lot. By introducing an affordable range of good quality basic items, we hope more people will be encouraged to transform spaces in their homes and gardens”.

The research also shows a switch in the more traditional gender roles in British homes, with 51 per cent of women now taking charge of DIY and decorating. In many cases it is due to the man of the house handing over control, with a quarter of men (25 per cent) saying they get their wife or girlfriend to deal with the household DIY.

TV presenter Terri Dwyer, who has madeover more than 200 homes in 60 Minute Makeover says: “Giving your home a more homely feel certainly doesn’t need to cost the earth. There are lots of ways you can brighten a room on a budget. A splash of white paint brings a fresh, clean feel to a room while basic accessories bring warmth and a homely feel to any house. With the basics now available at affordable prices, there’s no excuse for not dusting down the overalls and getting stuck in. You can use the money you save to be extravagant elsewhere”.

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Posted under You Could Save Misc

In order to buy currency the shrewd way you must first be familiar with the Foreign Exchange Market and what it does. The buying and selling of different currencies takes place in the foreign exchange market. The FX or foreign exchange market is a network of traders who work via telephone and computer from all over the world.

The main centres of trade are in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, with other countries such as Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, France and Singapore making up the rest. Currency trading is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as when Singapore for instance is ending, the United Kingdom is opening. There are three reasons that people use the FX. These reasons are: to acquire short term profits due to fluctuations in the ever changing exchange rate, to purchase goods and services from a foreign country and to guard against losses due to the exchange rates fluctuating. The participants in the FX are bankers, customers, brokers and Central banks.

Foreign exchange brokers

Foreign exchange brokers are brokers who specialise in the exchange of currency. These brokers act as go-betweens for the buyers and sellers of currency and usually can predict to some degree of accuracy which way the market may turn to allow their clients to make the most money. Although these brokers usually deal with large transactions and corporate clients, many will also deal with private customers, with these types of expertise to hand you can be assured that the best rates can be achieved.

How to buy foreign currency as a tourist

If you simply wish to buy currency for an upcoming trip or holiday the simplest method may be to use your credit card while on the go. When using your credit cards you can get either the Visa or Master Card exchange rate which is higher than some other places. However, most credit cards do charge an exchange rate conversion charge.

Where to buy currency in the United Kingdom

If you are visiting the United Kingdom you may wish to buy currency on the high street. To buy currency shrewdly on the high street you will wish to look into several places you can use. The post office for instance can offer you the current exchange without the commissions. Most travel agents, as well as all of the banks, also offer this service with no exchange commissions. You will also find travellers cheques on the high street. American Express travellers’ cheques can be used anywhere and can be purchased using the current exchange rates.

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Posted under Banking & Investment

Luxury tour operator Travelbeam Luxury Hotels have teamed up with International Passenger Protection Ltd (IPP) to protect their customers against airline bankruptcy.

The decision was made in light of the continued fragility of the aviation industry which lost an estimated $11billion in 2009 with a further $5.6billion of losses anticipated in 2010 (source IATA -International Air Transport Association).

Complete customers satisfaction is of paramount importance to Travelbeam Luxury Hotels so if an airline collapses they want to be able to arrange re-booking or return flights with minimal fuss’ explained Managing Director, David Alix Barker, ‘Insurance was a good solution because reserving for a potential collapse would tie-up capital which could be much better used elsewhere.’

Financial failure specialists to the travel industry International Passenger Protection are the innovators of this type of insurance and with over 20 years experience are established leaders in this high risk sector, offering protection which includes ATOL and credit card liabilities.

‘These are huge financial exposures we are insuring so IPP only use A rated or above Insurers (Standard and Poors), who have combined net assets in excess of €100 billion’, explained Michael Ward, Sales and Marketing Manager at IPP. ‘Travel companies which include protection during these difficult times are giving their customers extra peace of mind so that they can relax and enjoy their trips’.

‘The high profile airline collapses such as Sky Europe, Zoom, Nationwide, Air Comet, XL and Globespan are the tip of the ice-berg with over 60 airlines failing since the start of the recession’, explained Ward. ‘With experts forecasting a further 4 years before stability in the airline industry it is prudent for all travel arrangers to look at insurance options’, Ward concluded.

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Posted under Travel & Holiday

Nearly all companies purchase office supplies products. For small companies that don’t have dedicated facilities or procurement managers this role is often left to a receptionist to organise. With other responsibilities and little time to deal with suppliers directly, many don’t have time to understand the current office supplies deal in its entirety. This type of indirect supply could be costing your business thousands per annum.

In preparation for a new Stationery Forum website, You Could Save has carried out several free price checks and showed savings between 14%-30%. This is for services such as general stationery, furniture and IT consumables. Taking the lowest savings of 14% and the client’s spend of £5,000 per annum, this will save the company £700.00 by the end of 2010. Although small, this process took us one phone call, one email and no face to face meetings. If an employee found £700 on your office floor would you expect them to hand it in?! Imagine if your annual spend was £80,000!

If you would like us to find savings with your current office supplies pricing structure please feel free to contact us. We could also write an article about how your own business is saving people money and incorporate any tips you think the public might like to hear about. This would further promote your working practices within the network of companies already listed on our site. (If approved).

Many senior individuals within organisations now view our articles as being more effective than traditional paid advertising. The articles on our site gain a broader audience faster and a more immediate response to the services and messages you offer. This will give your company the chance to gain those all important recommendations.

Follow us on our company twitter page @YouCouldSave

With a new stationery forum launching shortly, you will not only be able find “Answers” but ask “Questions” about anything related to office supplies. We are hoping this will reduce the amount of cold calls made by office supplies companies and free up your time to save money.

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Posted under Business News

Outsourcing storage or your warehousing is both a flexible and an economical way of reducing costs. By implementing measures like this will enables your business the ability to adjust its overheads in line with fluctuations in demand. The costs of running even a small warehouse are significant. With rent, rates, insurance, utilities, staff wages, forklifts, training, health & safety, maintenance, disrepair costs along with legal fees it can all mount up.

Sussex Transport Warehouse Service offers businesses somewhere to store goods on a permanent or short term basis. The commercial storage facility incorporates over 50,000 sq ft of warehousing, accommodating over 4000 pallets along with crate and box storage areas. Sussex Transport Pick and Pack Service offers you somewhere to store and ship your goods to and from on a pay as you use basis.

Benefits to your business include:

Huge savings by removing its warehousing overheads.

Bulk purchasing enables discounted parcel and pallet deliveries.

Saves you time by managing your stock, orders and deliveries.

Frees up time to concentrate on sales and development of your business.

Sussex Transport also provides nationwide Sameday transport and road haulage services and specialise in the movement of goods from A to B. Their modern diverse fleet has the benefit of arguably the best fleet management technology available on the market today enabling them to pin-point and constantly monitor the real-time movement of all of their vehicles.

This includes time critical, high value, sensitive, fragile, awkward and exhibition centre loads as demonstrated in this video.

With highly trained and motivated staff, combined with their belief in excellent communication is key to the success in the road haulage industry. Ask them how much they can save your business by calling calling 01903 751100

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Posted under Business News

Having run late with the green procurement workshop on Monday it left me no time to search the Brighton lanes for a gift for my friend’s Birthday. I remember reading about a company called @purenuffstuff on my twitter follower list so made contact today to find out a little more about their products. I was so impressed with the philosophy of their organisation I wanted to share it with our readers. These products would tick all the boxes if you’re looking for an ideal valentines present.

purenuffstuff.co.uk is owned by Helen and Emily, a pair of friends happily living and working in Cornwall. They became interested in skin care, when they started doing research into what they were putting on their skin. Helen started making soap for her family in her kitchen about 8 years ago and their interest and expertise has just grown from there.

Helen’s background as a quality control chemist and Emily’s history in business management give them the skills to run a cosmetics business, and still learn a huge amount from the customers they have built up. Douglas and Dean joined them in July of 2007 and brought with them some 11 years of soap-making experience. Doug having taught a number of other companies how to make soap decided he’d have more control and scope to experiment using his experience with Purenuffstuff.co.uk. Dean’s organisational experience and attention to detail means that he controls the day to day running of the operation and makes sure that you get exactly what you ordered.

As a company purenuffstuff.co.uk are committed to bringing you some of the most natural cosmetics and skincare around and at a price that means you can use them every day rather than as a special treat. The team lovingly hand make every product in small batches, ensuring that it’s all lovely and fresh and you can enjoy the full 12 months shelf-life.

Most of the product development is customer led and they take note of all feedback and desires of all of their customers. Each product is developed to deal with specific areas of the body and the daily stresses they undergo. Because of the production methods used they can offer customers a bespoke service and alter the essential oil blends if they’d prefer something else – check out the Custom Made Section, they’re the only company in the country that offers this service so take advantage of it.

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Posted under Environment, How to Keep Healthy

The latest poll from Broadbandgenie.co.uk has revealed ‘added extras’ are more important than speed, price, reliability or usage caps for UK mobile broadband consumers.

When asked, ‘What would most affect your mobile broadband purchase’ more than 30 per cent of those responding answered ‘added extras’. Of more than 1,100 respondents, around a quarter opted for fast speeds, while just a fifth chose lower prices as the number one reason for their choice.

While this should come as no surprise, after the huge success of so-called ‘free’ laptop deals and a growing number of free dongle offers, it could set alarm bells ringing for mobile broadband suppliers. The UK already enjoys very cheap tariffs compared to our European neighbours, but competition to add value looks set to continue in a highly competitive market.

Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said: “These results are very interesting and may surprise, and frustrate, the UK’s mobile broadband suppliers. The desire for added extras is a hangover from the mobile companies’ insistence on giving away everything from free handsets to games consoles with mobile phone tariffs – consumers know dongles come from the same firms, and want more freebies.

“There has been resistance to continuing laptop deals from some mobile broadband suppliers, but the demand for them is still high. We have also seen Orange adding value with a high performance antenna and microSD card, while 3 has a MiFi deal which includes a bundled iPod Touch on a two-year contract for an extra £6 per week. More and more, deals are beginning to mirror those in the mobile phone arena.

“As for speed, it seems like the one thing the mobile broadband internet suppliers can’t provide. As fast as they improve their networks and add base stations, we’re signing up to mobile broadband and smartphone deals, using up all the bandwidth. Here at Broadband Genie, we say 4G can’t come soon enough!”

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Posted under Broadband & Mobile Phones