How would you like the chance to send a parcel with DHL Service Point for FREE? Well, here it is!
We’re giving you the opportunity to win one FREE parcel shipment from the UK to any part of the world*, which you can send from any one of our many DHL Service Points available nationwide at select Ryman, Staples, WHSmith, Safestore and Homebase stores.
Fill in your details here to enter. It’s that simple.
Hurry, the competition ends on 31st August 2013.
*Subject to Terms and Conditions upon entry. The shipment must be pre-arranged with DHL prior to sending
]]>On 4th July 1776, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain and the date has remained as a big day of celebration for Americans…
If you have family or friends in the States, more than likely they’ll be celebrating 4th July with backyard BBQs and explosive fireworks. DHL helps families and friends celebrate special events, like Independence Day, regardless of the distance between them.
We make it easy to send gifts to your friends this Independence Day. With over 1,300 Service Points nationwide, we’re sure to be on a high street near you. So, once you’ve found the perfect present, just take it to your local Service Point and we’ll send it on its way!
Why not impress them with some of our favourite 4th July facts?
- On 4th July 1776, America declared its independence from Britain. It was the separation of 13 colonies from Great Britain.
- Each year on 4th July, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics and family gatherings.
- The estimated population on 4th July 2013 is 316.2 million
- Three of America’s first five presidents died on 4th July.
- 150 million hotdogs are consumed on 4th July every year
- 700 million lbs of chicken is purchased in the week leading up to 4th July
- 190 million lbs of red meat/pork is purchased in the week leading up to 4th July
- 25 million lbs of fireworks is sold to cities for public celebrations
- 11: number of places in the US with “Independence” in their name
Sources: (CNN, The Herald Tribune, US Census Bureau as of 7.3.2012)
Whilst we can’t deliver sizzling BBQs or explosive fireworks, we can help you join your American buddies in spirit by celebrating Independence Day with a hamper full of American goodies. Click here to find out more about our new competition. But hurry, it closes tomorrow!
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As swarms of undergrads disappear home to enjoy the summer break, you’re stuck on campus writing your thesis. But you can still enjoy your summer too! Find out how to keep on top of your work with Service Point…
1. Planning is key
If you haven’t already picked a topic and put together a detailed plan, get started now. Reading is key to developing a good plan, but this will take time so it is important to start your research early.
Think about the structure your thesis will take and plan your chapters. The more you plan, the better disciplined you’ll be, and the more likely it is you’ll get a good result.
Create a timetable to make sure you stay on track. Give yourself regular breaks, get plenty of sleep and eat well – these will help to keep your brain active.
It is also important to talk to your supervisor from an early stage, as well as other students, discussing ideas and methods for writing your thesis.
2. Write as you go
It can be tempting to leave writing your thesis until after your research, but it’s a good idea to take notes as you go. To make life easier, consider using a software tool like Reference Manager to keep track of your references, or you may never be able to find them again!
It’s important to review and proofread your work once it’s complete. Mistakes, including typos, undermine the professional quality of your work, and will impact on your overall result.
Finally, make sure you have a complete references section or bibliography highlighting your sources.
3. Use your supervisor
After all, that’s what they’re there for. Your dedicated supervisor will support you throughout your thesis by reading drafts and offering feedback, helping you to get the best result possible.
4. Get your work organised and looking great!
You’ll have accumulated lots of notes and it’s a good idea to keep them in folders, making them easy to find. You’ll find all your stationery needs at Staples.
After spending such a long time creating your work, it’s only fair to get it looking great! Again, Staples is the place to go to get your thesis printed and bound. Click here to see if these services are on offer with Staples this week.
5. Sell the books you no longer need
Unless you’re planning on a career in academia, chances are you’re not going to need the books you used to do your research again.
So sell them on and pack a profit! With Service Point, you don’t get charged by the weight of your package – perfect for a box full of heavy books!
Find out more about Service Point here.
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The winner of our latest competition is announced…
It’s been another busy week on the @dhlservicepoint Twitter stream and you’ve certainly kept us on our toes with your brilliant entries.
This week we asked you what the weirdest package you’ve ever sent or received is, and with 113 entries you didn’t disappoint!
All week you’ve been tweeting us with your mad entries that have made us laugh, cringe, gasp – or all three! And we were particularly surprised to see a high number of entries about guinea pigs, teeth and various food types, including chocolate-covered ants!
Due to the high number of great entries, we decided to share our favourite top 10:
@finleypoppet: Emailed hotel to say we’d left son’s glasses. No problem we have them. Got a hearing aid instead. Must have got lost in translation! – How ironic!
@bev_metallica: A small box of guinea pig poo! No, really! (Sent to a pig on antibiotics who needed the healthy bacteria from it!) – Well you learn something new every day!
@WISHGIRL123: I’ve sent fertile chicken eggs and had live maggots sent to me for my chickens – What did the postie think of that?
@Saspidistra: This life-size cardboard dalek arrived in the post recently! – Thanks for the great photo.
@_sal1978_: I once had to send our garden scarecrow by courier to my sister when she was at uni to decorate a room for a party – What was the theme to that party?
@thunderbirdsGO: I received a Nappy Cake congratulating me on my 1st child. I was 13, NOT pregnant & my parents totally freaked out! – We’re not surprised they did!
@trainsniffer: When my puppy lost her baby teeth my mother insisted I post them to her so she could put them in a scrap book – What else went in there?
@mumsiekelzof4: Some edible lollies with dead bugs inside from my sister in law. There was an ant, scorpion and maggot – What did they taste like?
@_Rachel_S: My Nan sent me a book on caring for tropical fish. I don’t own any tropical fish – Your Nan sounds great!
@Sarah_Ly1: I had my old teeth mould sent through to me recently, which I took when I had my brace when I was 13. Ewww – Gross!
And the winner is…
Although there were many fantastic entries, there was one clear winner that shocked us, scared us and made us laugh:
@For_Kate: Last year I received a packet of dried shrimp & a spanner with a note saying: “Thank you sweetheart” * scared face *
Congratulations Katie, you’ve bagged yourself £100 in High Street vouchers.
Thank you to everyone who entered. Keep an eye out for more great competitions coming your way soon.
Follow us on Twitter @dhlservicepoint
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Rainbow Trust is a charity that makes a real difference to families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness. We’re encouraging everyone from DHL staff to DHL customers to get involved…
The prospect of your son or daughter being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness is too horrifying to imagine. Sadly, it’s a heartbreaking reality faced by thousands of families in the UK every year. Coping with the emotional turmoil of childhood terminal illness is amongst the hardest things a family will ever have to do and it’s regrettable that until recently so little support has been available to those facing such traumatic uncertainty.
Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity can make a difference. It offers emotional and practical support to families going through the hardest of times. Rainbow Trust workers join the families in their homes, offering support and understanding to distraught siblings, taking some of the practical burden off exhausted parents and helping them find the strength to cope. Relying almost entirely on voluntary donations, it’s an undeniably good cause, helping around 1,000 families deal every year.
That’s why we’re on a mission to encourage everybody, from DHL staff to DHL customers, to do what they can to support this incredible charity. There are lots of ways to help out, from regular giving to special occasion contributions. You can also get involved by taking part in fundraising events or even organising your own fun event.
At DHL, we’re setting out to raise a whopping £75,000 for the Rainbow Trust in 2011 through our Life Cycle fundraising scheme. Life Cycle is a campaign that we’ve been running since 2009, encouraging all our staff, across various branches of DHL, to get involved in a host of exciting fundraising events.
This year, intrepid DHL staff across the country will be: dusting off their running shoes and taking to the roads in the BUPA Great North Run, going beyond the call of duty in our Life Sky Dive, cycling from London to Paris, and swimming their way to success in the Great North Swim. Life Cycle on Tour will take a mini-sports centre, housed in the 40ft Life Cycle trailer, to DHL sites across the UK – making it even easier for staff to get involved with local sponsorship.
If you’re feeling inspired and want to help Rainbow Trust make a difference, head over to their website for ideas on how to get involved.
Are you running your business in the most tax efficient way?
While it is important to keep the taxman happy, it is also important to ensure your tax affairs – both business and personal – are managed so as to minimise the overall financial impact on your bottom line and your own purse.
A recent Real Business article, ‘The definitive tax guide for business owners’, offers ten top tax tips covering everything from reviewing reward packages and VAT arrangements to transferring business ownership and investing for capital growth.
It also includes information on an HM Revenue & Customs facility called the Business Payment Support Service which helps businesses experiencing cashflow difficulties to agree revised tax payment terms, without incurring penalties, on most taxes and duties including income tax, corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and National Insurance.
You can read the full article here.
And remember, if you’re running your own business DHL Servicepoint is also here to help with your delivery needs. Our destinations include 220 countries worldwide with UK deliveries starting at £5.95 and the USA and Canada at £25.95. All parcels are guaranteed and tracked at every stage and signed for on receipt.
Just pick your nearest DHL Servicepoint, pack your parcel for free when you get there, pay and then leave the rest to us: www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/howto.htm
]]>We can all breathe a sigh of relief for now as the Bank of England once again announced last week to keep interest rates at 0.5% for the 19th month in a row.
While savers will not be best pleased, those with mortgages and loans – which includes a large chunk of the SME (small and medium size enterprise) community – will certainly applaud this welcome news.
And the decision will come as no surprise to the business world and economists who have predicted that the rate will remain at 0.5% until at least next year. A necessary move perhaps, as while the UK is slowly dragging itself out of the recession – the economy grew by 1.2% in the second quarter – there is still talk that we’re not out of the woods just yet…
So if you are an SME business owner with cost-cutting high on your to-do list, why not send your parcels via DHL Servicepoint’s cost-effective and safe and secure international service.
Our destinations include 220 countries worldwide with UK deliveries starting at £5.95 and the USA and Canada at £25.95. All parcels are guaranteed and tracked at every stage and signed for on receipt. Just pick your nearest DHL Servicepoint, pack your parcel for free when you get there, pay and then leave the rest to us www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/howto.htm
]]>Thinking of going freelance and setting up your own business?
No doubt the products, services, company name and even branding are sorted. But what about the all important legalities such as which business model works best for you?
Accounting specialists in the freelance and small business sector, Easy Accountancy, advise you to think carefully about the two main options available – sole trader or limited company – before making the leap.
They say: “One of the key challenges when making the decision to go freelance is to choose between becoming a limited company or simply setting-up as a sole trader. While there are benefits to going limited, many freelancers choose the sole trader option – primarily because they don’t want the hassle or the legal commitments which come with a limited company.”
Questions to consider are: what type of business is it, what will your turnover and profit be, do you have future plans to grow the business, what level of commercial risk will you be exposed to?
For the full article please click here.
lAnd don’t forget, whatever choice you make DHL Servicepoint is here to help with all your business delivery needs. Our simple three step process couldn’t be easier: pick your nearest DHL Servicepoint, pack your parcel for free when you get there, pay and leave the rest to us: www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/howto.htm
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Here at DHL Servicepoint we’re keen to get to know our customers even better and in return we’re offering you the chance to win £250 worth of high street vouchers. A perfect way to kick-start the autumn shopping season!
Are you an individual user who favours our safe and secure service when sending gifts to family and friends? Or perhaps you’re planning a winter break and need to update your passport via prompt and guaranteed means.
Maybe you are a small business owner working from home and trading on eBay where a hassle-free, cost-effective delivery service is essential to the survival of your company. Or do you run a slightly larger SME (small and medium size enterprise) and prefer our quick and easy pick, pack and pay approach to delivery over queuing for hours in an overcrowded post office?
Whatever your reasons and preferences we’d love to hear from you. Just complete our short online questionnaire and you could be the lucky winner of the £250 vouchers: www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/questionnaire.htm
And remember, DHL Servicepoint delivers to 220 countries worldwide with UK prices starting at £5.95 and the USA and Canada at £25.95. All parcels are guaranteed and tracked at every stage and signed for on receipt. Just pick your nearest DHL Servicepoint, pack your parcel for free when you get there, pay and then leave the rest to us: www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/howto.htm
]]>According to People Management magazine, a woman who was made redundant six years ago has become Britain’s first £1 million Avon lady. Debbie Davis has earned £1.4 million since she started selling the cosmetics brand and now manages a workforce of 8,000.
Yet another example of the entrepreneurial spirit being well and truly alive and kicking in the UK. No mean feat given that running your own business and turning it from a struggling start-up to a successful SME (small and medium size enterprise) requires ambition, tenacity and stamina.
And one of the most important qualities for any business is customer service at the very highest level. A great brand, business plan and marketing strategy are all immaterial if customer service is sloppy, particularly if dealing in the retail sector where customers are ordering goods which they expect to receive on time and undamaged.
Enter DHL Servicepoint which handles each and every parcel from when it leaves your hands to when it arrives safely in your customer’s. Simply pick your nearest DHL Servicepoint, pack the parcel when you get there and pay: www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk/howto.htm
DHL Servicepoint is designed to ensure customer service remains king enabling start-up companies to grow and flourish and ultimately make their owner their first million!
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