Guide · 3 min read · updated 2026-10-02
What makes a good corporate gift?
Why does most branded merchandise get thrown away?
Because it was chosen to be cheap per unit rather than useful. A logo on something nobody wanted is advertising that reaches a bin within the week.
The economics of the merchandise trade push everyone the same way: order five hundred, pay very little each, hand them out at an event. The recipient did not ask for a stress ball, so the stress ball goes in the bin, and the money went with it.
What makes a gift get kept?
It is useful to that specific person, it is theirs rather than generic, and it is good enough that replacing it would feel like a downgrade.
The best example we have made is an electrician's spirit level carrying his own branding, his own photograph and his own joke. It comes out of the van on every job and customers ask about it. One item, one person, and it has done more advertising than five hundred pens would have.
What should I actually buy?
For staff: something personal they would not buy themselves. For clients: something that sits on a desk. For trades: print on the tools they already carry.
Avoid anything consumable, anything needing a charger, and anything with a logo so large the person would be embarrassed to use it in public. A smaller logo is not a loss — the point is that the thing gets used where other people can see it.
How many should I order?
However many you will genuinely hand out, and no more. Ordering extra to drop the unit price is how cupboards fill with merchandise nobody wanted.
Because our setup cost is per job rather than per thousand, the arithmetic works differently here: ten good items often beat two hundred cheap ones for the same money, and occasionally one excellent one beats both.
Want a price for something specific?
Tell us what it is and we will give you a real number, usually the same day.
Related questions
What is the most useful corporate gift?
Something the person already uses at work, with their own name or trade on it. A branded tool gets carried daily; a branded pen is in a drawer within a week.
How much should I spend on a corporate gift?
Enough that it is clearly not free tat, which in practice means about £25 upward. Below that the recipient can tell, and a cheap gift says something you did not mean.
Are branded gifts tax deductible in the UK?
Business gifts carrying a conspicuous advertisement for your business are allowable up to £50 per recipient per year, excluding food, drink and tobacco. Check with your accountant.
Is it worth personalising each gift individually?
For small numbers, yes — and it is where we are cheapest relative to the big suppliers, who charge heavily to vary each item because their process is built for identical runs.