Christmas / New Year

10 ways to help you avoid a cold / flu

It’s that time of year again when the common cold and flu begins to get passed from one person to the next. The average person is likely to suffer some or all of the effects of a cold or flu twice a year with sneezing, coughing, sore throat and a runny nose the obvious symptoms.

With hundreds of cold-causing viruses floating around, here are our 10 ways to help boost your immune system and help prevent catching a cold or the flu this winter. Our hand sanitisers and tissues are also great ways
of stopping the germs spreading around.

1. Wash Hands Frequently.   The most effective way to prevent colds and the flu is simply washing your hands properly and frequently. Wash your hands and encourage those around you to do the same, keep a hand sanitiser available as well, and frequent use will help kill germs passed on from shaking hands and touching doorknobs, keyboards, and telephones

2. Wipe Down Surfaces.  It's common sense not to shake hands or get near a sick person but we will all inevitably be in contact with ill people at some time. Wiping down light switches, doorknobs, the phone, computer keyboard, and your TV remote will also minimize exposure to germs.

3. Drink Plenty of Fluids.  Stay hydrated by drinking a lot of fluids, especially water, and avoid caffeinated drinks. Try six to eight glasses of water a day and more if you cannot help but drink caffeinated beverages.

4. Exercise to Strengthen Your Immunity.  Exercise not only makes you perform your job better but it also boosts your immune system and as low as 20 minutes of brisk walking is all you may need to significantly improve the body’s immune response.

5. Get Plenty of Sleep.  Studies have found that getting enough sleep is essential for healthy immune function and that insufficient sleep or poor sleep quality is associated with lowered immune function.

6. Add Some Sunshine.  Researchers are quickly catching on that Vitamin D may be the secret to avoiding the cold and flu. Vitamin D plays an important role in strengthening your defence system to better fight any invading viruses and bacteria. Compounding the problem is the fact that Vitamin D is produced when the body gets adequate levels of sunshine which we have not had too much of this winter and naturally, even less is produced in the winter months. So when the sun does come out, down tools leave the office and spend 15 minutes in the sun.

7. Put down the sugar.  When it comes to fighting cold and flu it is essential to decrease your amount of sugar intake. Sugar has devastating effects on the immune system. Instead of eating high sugar foods, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables this will make sure your body gets enough of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to fighting off the cold and flu.

8. Spend time outdoors. Germs thrive in closed areas, so take time each day to step out for a breath of fresh air.

9. Vitamin C supplementation.  There are a lot of vitamins and minerals that can help boost your immune system but Vitamin C seems to be the typical staple in most people’s “immune booster” arsenal.

10. Hot Winter Soup and a good laugh.  This is not backed with research but soup warms the body and laughter warms the mind.


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Hangover Shmangover

For all of our American cousins nursing a turkey hangover today, it will be of little comfort to know that you could have had one of our nifty little hangover kits to get you through today’s slump.

Whilst the best hangover cure of all is not drinking in the first place (insight courtesy of the NHS website), we English know that this is rarely an option at Christmas, especially on the office night out or on a pre-christmas get-together with those whom you love but may well be a bad influence on you! (Although I imagine they will say the same about you....)

The kits are available branded in blue, purple and red and contain:

A Cooling Gel Eye Mask to soothe your headache
A pack of mints incase you aren’t near your toothbrush
A 5ml face spray to refresh the skin
And a wet wipe incase you can’t make it to the shower!

So no hair of the dog I’m afraid.

Do try your best to drink responsibly this Christmas but on those nights where you’re just enjoying life too much make sure there is a hangover kit waiting for you in the morning.

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Product of the Week

This week’s most popular product is the ever popular 50ml Waterless Hand Sanitiser with Clip.

Other variations of the sanitiser range have also been popular this week, including the 50ml desktop and the 9ml / 15ml pocket sized hand sanitisers.

All of our waterless hand sanitisers produced in the UK comply with BS EN1500 and the gel in the clip on bottles has been tested against MRSA and Swine Flu, making it a great product for medical professionals.

They are available in Clear (G572801), Blue (G572807) and Purple (G572806) from stock for quick delivery.

Now also availalble without Alcohol, yet still tested and proven to be equally effectibe at protecting from germs.

Visit www.bio-labs.co.uk for more ideas.

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'Tis the Sneezon...

Man-flu can be particularly lethal at this time of year, as can the regular lady strains of viruses.

Luckily your good friends here at Bio Labs have it covered, your nose that is, with our wide selection of brandable tissue packs and hand sanitisers to catch and kill those winter bugs and keep you going about your everyday business of over-spending on christmas shopping and excavating your way into work through the inevitable snow.

We have a number of tissue options available:

• 7 x 2-ply tissues in a clear poly pack with printed insert card
• Box of 100 white tissues in a printed box
• Tissue Drinks Cup holding 30 x 2-ply tissues
• Twin Wet wipe / Tissue boxes
• 10 x 4-ply tissues in a printed poly pack

These are all available for branding so if you would like a mock-up creating or just want to discuss the best option for your campaign get in touch with us. All contact details are on our website 

www.bio-labs.co.uk

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Winter Lip Care

Now that we have entered the season of biting winds and plummeting temperatures , it’s a good time to arm yourself with one of our lip balms and help prolong those healthy summer lips into the winter months.

We not only sell lip balm sticks with or without lanyards but also lip balms in a tin and lip balms in a jar so you can tailor our products to meet your brief. All options are available with branding options and we can generally cater for any quantity required – simply get in touch with your bespoke needs and we will do what we can to see that you receive what you want.

The sticks are available with or without SPF protection in Mint, Vanilla or ‘Planty’ flavour which is free from any mineral oil or wax and has a slight vanilla scent to it. In the jar and tin versions we can provide you with a number of flavours/colours  including Blue Tropical Fruit, Green Apple, Purple Blackcurrant, White Coconut, Pink Watermelon and Red Strawberry. Other formulations can be created on large quantity runs.

For more information drop us a line or an e-mail and we’ll help you out as best we can.

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Product(s) of the Week

More of a 'theme of the week' this week than any one product on its own

with a number of ladies accessories equally popular.

It appears it was the week to pamper with our silver chrome compact mirror, 

toe nail separators and silver perfume atomiser topping the sales charts.

These are just a few of our range of accessories that can be provided in

customised bags or with printing, depending on the item and quantity.

Visit www.bio-labs.co.uk for more ideas.

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Product of the Week

This week’s most purchased product is an old favourite:
the 20ml Credit Card Hand Sanitiser Spray (Ref: G5372),

a waterless hand sanitiser spray to keep the winter flu and
germs at bay. It’s the perfect pocket-sized product with a large
area for branding on one side.

Complies with BS EN 1500
Available in the original frosted clear finish (G5372),
black (G537201) and now pink (G537202).
Other colours are an option but subject to
minimum quantities and availability.

This is just one of our full range of UK-made
hand sanitisers. Visit our website for more info:

www.bio-labs.co.uk

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BPMA Discount

'Ding Ding'..... Last orders!!

If you haven’t already, you can get £50 off a £500 order with us if you

are members of or join the BPMA before the end of October and place an order with

us before the 31^st.

Bio Laboratories are proud members of the BPMA and we try to involve ourselves
with as many of their promotions as we can, giving you the chance to grab some great deals from us.

If you want to join you can visit the BPMA on their website www.bpma.co.uk

And then give us a call on 0161 903 9520 and start saving.

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APG Expo 2012

Thanks to everyone that came to see us at the APG Shows this week, whether
you saw Ian at the Sandown Park show or Clare and Lisa today at the 'Theatre
of dreams' - Old Trafford.

I've heard good feedback for both days so we hope you enjoyed it too.

Those who weren't able to catch us this time around can see us next at the
Trade Only National Show.

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Wedding Bells

It is a very special day for one of Bio's valued staff members tomorrow; Karen
is getting married to a lovely man called Gary (another previous Bio employee).

We wish them both huge congratulations and all the very best for the future. They are 

having a big bash and the office has been getting excited for weeks so we are sure 

that on Monday we will all be recovering from the big day.

Have an amazing time Karen and Gary, you both deserve it!

From all of your friends at Bio.

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Book us

This year, we are pleased to announce that we are in not one, not two, 

but 5 promotional product catalogues; Ignite, Page, Advantage, 

Promotional Union and Encore.

This gives you even more ways to find our products and enable you to 

experience our excellent service first-hand.

We’ve added a number of products to the range recently, trying our best to 

provide you with whatever it is you are looking for.

To see our full range, visit www.bio-labs.co.uk 

or to discuss products, request a sample or retrieve a quote; 

call us on 0161 903 9520 

or e-mail sales@bio-labs.co.uk

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A Clear Objective

Another week, another new product added to the website. This week it’s the

turn of this 2pc Glasses & Screen Cleaning Pocket Sized Kit.

An Anti-static glass cleaner suitable for all types of glasses, sunglasses, mobile 

phones, kindles and computer screens. It includes a Microfibre cleaning cloth and 5ml 

cleaning spray in a clear PVC pouch.

Available in White, Black, Blue, Purple, Orange and Yellow.
Other colours available subject to minimum order quantities.

For more info give us a call or drop by the website.

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Bio Labs @ the APG Expo 2012

Ian will be attending this year's Sandown instalment of the APG Expo on Wednesday 5th September, with Clare and Lisa attending the Old Trafford day on the 6th September.

It's your perfect chance to come and discuss anything you like with us and we will be

showcasing our NEW Pocketmate range, the Re-launch of our 2-in-1 screen cleaning 
kits and the NEW Mini glasses and screen cleaning kits.

We hope to see you on at least one of the days so come and say hello to
our friendly team who will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

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Come up smelling of roses (or whatever you like)

As Bob Dylan once said; the times they are a’changing. Ever hopeful to change with them we have now added air fresheners as a new item to our website as they have turned out to be one of the most searched-for products on Sourcing City across the whole Promotional industry.

The air fresheners we are offering are available in bespoke and stock shapes and with a wide variety of fragrances from which we are sure your needs can be accommodated.

Stock shapes are available from a minimum of 500 units and bespoke shapes (at no extra cost) from a minimum of 1000 units. Each comes with an elastic hanging loop and individually packaged to ensure longevity and easy handling.

Branding in the form of full colour print is available to the full surface on each side so they really can be made to look how your clients wish them to.

For more information check out our website or give our sales team a call.

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Embrace the Sun with Bio Labs

Open the windows, dust off your shades and take your hayfever pills – summer appears to have re-appeared!

Just when we thought we were doomed to spending the summer months wrapped in blankets, drinking soup and trying to empty the floodwater from our living room, nature has taken a kind turn - as if to make the country look tidy as all the relatives come to the house for a particular sporting event that seems to be taking place over the coming weeks.

It is certainly the weather in which one should be thinking about sun lotion (if you are thinking about it when it’s raining, you probably have a very good reason to).

At Bio Labs we have Factor 15 and F25 available in sun lotion tubes and bottles of varying sizes.We also have SPF lip balms and even aftersun for those unfortunate enough to be sporting sizzled skin.

You’re probably outside basking in it if you are lucky enough, however if you are sat at your desk reading this move sun lotion firmly to the front of your mind and help people get out and enjoy this fine British summer! (Apologies if you are reading this 72 hours from now when it will most likely be raining, windy and breezy – but don’t worry, we have products for that too).

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Sourcing City Marketplace

Ever the enthusiast to give new ventures a go, Ian has decided to attend this year’s Sourcing City Marketplace event. Taking place in Farnborough at the end of next month it should offer a new perspective compared to most other exhibitions as it offers a well publicised ‘focussing less on products and more on the people’ theme and aims to allow distributors and suppliers to meet in a more relaxed atmosphere and give them the chance to really drive home the reasons why they feel their companies would be useful allies.

Thank you to the distributors who have already made appointments, Ian is looking forward to meeting up with new and existing customers for 2 very interesting days on the 26^th and 27^th of September.

If anyone wants to get a time in the diary now with Ian for the show, please log in to the on-line appointment diary and Ian will confirm by return.

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Pocket Sized Kits

Pocket sized kits from Pocketmate®

Each of the above handy pocket-sized essential packs are available from stock, 

containing all you need ‘on the go’, at home or in the office and small enough to 

take with you wherever you go.

Branding is available on the bag and most of the contents with options to suit all budgets.

The packs listed above are:

G573901 – Pocket Flight Travel Kit
Black sleep mask, orange ear plugs, pack of mints, wet wipe

G582101 – Pocket Festival Survival Kit

2 wet wipes, 2 Alka Seltzer©, breath freshener, deodorant, hand sanitiser

G586201 – 3pc Chrome Manicure Set
Chrome finish nail file, scissors and clippers

G5912 – Pocket Mini Hangover Kit
Gel eye mask, pack of mints, 5ml face spray, wet wipe

Other sets can be made depending on quantities and availability, give us a call for more details.


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Bio Labs Colleague Updates

To provide an even better service to our expanding UK and European customer base we would like to welcome Kvetoslava Chadwick to the Bio Labs team. Kvetoslava has moved over from one of our associate companies, bringing excellent admin and customer liaison skills that she has been using in her previous role for the last 3 years.

To further boost our customer support team and help Ian, and to provide Clare and Lisa’s customers with an even better service, Karen Harper (soon to be Bodell) has also been moved from a general admin role in to a customer support role from the 1st of July.

Kvetoslava and Karen will be providing full in-house admin and telephone support to Clare and Lisa respectively providing dedicated sales admin and customer support to all their customers, freeing up more time for Clare and Lisa to liaise with their customers and visit them at various trade shows.

Our new team look forward to hearing from you all!

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10 Years On...

This week, Bio Laboratories Ltd celebrated it's 10 year anniversary in business under Ian and Lorraine.

Only Clare and Ian were here from the start and remember how it was a decade ago, but in the 10 years the company has seen a number of changes and grown in to the company it is today as the UK's leading supplier of promotional cosmetics.

To celebrate our 'aluminium' Anniversary and the Olympics anyone who subscribes to our Blog and places an order in the next 10 weeks for any of our Red, White or Blue Lip Balms in an Aluminium Tin will get 10% extra Free of Charge.

Look forward to celebrating our anniversary with you!

Offer limited to the Red, White and Blue coloured lip balms only and limited to one order per customer during this period. Offer finishes 31st August 2012 and limited to quantities between 1,000 and 10,000 pieces ordered and delivered before the expiry offer and subject to usual trading & credit terms available on application.

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Products that make YOU the winner

Lip balms have always been one of our biggest sellers and it's no different so far this Olympic year.

With a wide range of colours available in a standard vanilla flavour, with SPF20 protection if required for those outdoor sporty types and with direct branding available it’s easy to see why.

The light formula protects, softens and conditions lips so get ahead of the race with our range of promotional Lip Balms today

As a special offer for the next 4 weeks, any orders for the Red, White or Blue Sticks as shown we will supply an extra 50 FREE - so long as you are following us on Twitter or subscribed to our weekly blog of course...

For more information, quotes or samples don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.


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BIO LABS and the EUROS 2012

With the Euro 2012 competition in Poland and Ukraine starting today we thought we would let you know how our own Euro Campaign is progressing.

We have been making great strides at Bio Labs to be much more Euro Friendly, we see the European Promotional Market as much of a key area to us as our home form in order to expand our business, ‘as you don’t win anything on home form alone’ so the pundits and experts tell you.

We have taken part in the PSI Show in Düsseldorf for two years now, and have booked for 2013 already and we are now starting so see the rewards of those busy and exhausting shows, at least that is what they are led to believe in the office, otherwise everyone will want go over for 3 days holiday in the cold January weather of Düsseldorf, with a noticeable increase in exports this year.

There is also an increasing awareness of our products with more exposure in their Trade Press as well, with products and articles selected and included in the PSI journals and EPPI magazines proving the European are not too scared off by ‘British Made’ goods so here’s looking forward to a good Euro 2012 for England and an even better 2012/2013 season for Bio Labs


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Showing Our Face

Since we have recently added a Blog and a Twitter account to our repetoire, we thought it would just be downright rude not to make ourselves a Facebook page as well.

We’ve linked the Facebook page to our twitter account so you can keep up to date with all things Bio, including product updates and business / industry news.

If you would ‘like’ to come and take a look then visit www.facebook.com/BioLaboratories to see our third instalment of the New Media outlets. You now have plenty of ways to stay in touch with us so you have no excuse!

Finally to all our cutomers and friends, have a fantastic jubilee bank holiday and we’ll be looking forward to hearing from you all when we all come crawling back into work.

All the best, the Bio team.


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Clare's 40th

This week Bio Laboratories is celebrating the 40^th birthday of senior sales 
assistant Clare Collier.

As you can see in the image above, Clare came back from her lunch to a bunch of flowers, two large balloons (which were a big giveaway to her age for anyone who wasn’t aware) and a whole bunch of glitter which she will be finding in her keyboard well into next years birthday.

Clare will be celebrating her birthday at home on Monday as we are lucky enough here at Bio Labs to automatically receive our birthday day off, although with a baby and a young daughter we can’t imagine she will be relaxing.

So happy birthday Clare from all of your colleagues here at Bio Laboratories and just remember - 40 is the new 30....for some of us anyway!


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Product Update: Lip Balms on Lanyards

Get your sunglasses at the ready! 

Our Improved range of lip balms now available with SPF20 protection and matching printed lanyards are enough to brighten even the dullest of British summer days.

Available in a rainbow of colours this strikingly colourful, yet extremely practical promotional gift will add a touch of sunshine to any outdoor event. With a printed lanyard and printed case there is plenty of opportunity for your clients to get their branding across.

Call now for a quote or a free sample.


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Au Revoir Souraya

Last week saw the departure of Souraya who had been here at Bio Labs for a year, keeping a much needed presence with all of our French and Spanish speaking customers.

Souraya left to work for a large company in her native France as a product sourcer for 6 months so a return back to Bio Labs could be a possibility when she is finished. We have already received complaints that her day includes at least 10 minutes of walking which, if you know Soraya, is about 2 miles to anyone else.

We would like to wish her all the best and to thank her for her hard work over the past year and for dealing with customers in her own special way.

We will all be set to lose a few lb’s here in the office though now we aren’t being plied with sweet delicacies, although the BN will be sorely missed!

Best wishes and ‘bonne chance’ Souraya from Ian, Jamie, Diane, Lisa, Clare, Caren, Kvetka, Yasmin, John, Lorraine and Guy.

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The Wellness Revolution

Currently there is an overall trend toward the wellness market including fitness, healthcare, beauty products and beauty services.

In the USA the estimate is that the overall wellness market, not just promotional, is a $500 billion industry with experts projecting this will triple over the next 5 years.

The wellness industry includes products and services provided not to just the un-healthy, but proactively to already healthy people to help make them feel even healthier, to slow the effects of aging, and look even better.

With more people paying closer attention to the quality of the food and drink they purchase, consumers are also keen to learn how wellness products can help achieve overall health & well-being with a wide range of fitness, healthcare & beauty products an appealing option for those wishing to live healthier lives while looking and feeling better.

The demand for healthcare products within the promotional industry spans across the need for personal daily needs to healthcare professionals and providers. Each has its particular needs and functions, and the demand for a variety of promotional products to communicate, keep in touch and keep track of provider-patient relationships and progress and the promotional product industry offers a variety of solutions with promotional products that go from generic to specific.

Bio Laboratories Ltd based in the UK supply a wide variety of promotional products that can all be custom printed to convey a specific message, or just to promote doctor-patient relationship including hand sanitisers, soap, tooth care products, emery boards and beauty products like lip glosses and lip balms and much more that are available to be used either directly or indirectly, at trade shows, as marketing material, to promote public awareness, at conferences and conventions. They come in a variety of materials and price range. Customizable with different processes, from UK stock or custom manufactured to fit the customer specific purpose.

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Summer is on it's way...honest

Be prepared for summer with our range of products to tie in with all the outdoor activities and events your clients will all surely be attending in this great British Summer (don’t look outside now though, it’s getting all of the rain out of the way early!).

From sun blocks to lip balms with and without SPF protection we have plenty of products available to meet various briefs so don’t hesitate to get in touch.

All items are brandable and available on short lead times.
For more info drop us an e-mail or give us a call.


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The 'Brand' National

Bio Labs do ‘The Brand National’

As most of you will already be aware the Grand National is this Saturday so I have managed to rally most of the team together to take part in a sweepstake.
Unfortunately since we are all so good at our jobs there are only 10 of us needed in the office which makes the prospect of a sweepstake rather difficult!

We each have 6 horses that we will be rooting for tomorrow to win a possible jackpot of £24! If you try to contact the winner on Monday morning you may have difficulty as they will be off touring car showrooms contemplating where to spend their winnings!

We hope that any of you betting on the race tomorrow have good luck and that your horse actually makes it to the starting line and the finish line (a fantastic achievement within itself).

This year’s race hopes to provide us with the first female winning jockey and since we are in an office dominated by women we are hoping that she places well to prove that women can drive horses just as well as men, so long as they haven’t introduced a new feature of the race where you reverse park your horse into the stable at the end.

Let’s also hope that Shakalakaboomboom isn’t too near the front else the commentator won’t have enough time to mention any of the other horses and no-one will know who actually wins.

Let us know which horses you are willing on tomorrow in your office sweepstake if you are involved in one.

All the best from the Bio Labs team.


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