Blog
Its a Steal!
For those of you that aren’t aware, the Happy Christmas head office is based in Tonbridge, a quaint little market town based about half way between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks in the South East of England.
Tonbridge holds a few distinct landmarks including: a medieval castle, the river Medway, Tonbridge School, and, oh yeah, the site for the largest robbery ever to take place in England!
Our office is just a 10 minute walk away from where the biggest heist in England took place, a £53 million ($106m) raid on a Securitas depot. Yesterday announced the news that five men have been convicted of kidnap, robbery and firearm charges. Sentencing takes place on Tuesday.
Our new website, laptops, company cars and office expansion is a pure coincidence, I was in the office all day!
2008 Christmas Spending Report
Most people are now checking their bank balances and working out the exact cost of Christmas. A quick tally up around the HC office proves that like most people we seem to have spent way more than anticipated (as per usual!)
UK retailers recorded their worst December figures since 2004 according to The British Retail Consortium. However, e-consultancy.com recorded the opposite for online traders who experienced a bouyant Christmas, fuelled by customers seeking a good deal.
Now for the stats…
4.4 million people in the UK spent a total of £84 million on Christmas Day, 269% more than last year with an average of £19.09 per person. While in the US £14.9 billion was spent in December up 19% on last year.
An Unsusual stay!
In reference to an earlier blog I mentioned that I was given an unusual Christmas gift, a night in the Lowengraben Jail Hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland (Jail Hotel). In fact it is the only jail hotel in Switzerland!
Below are a few pictures from our stay, not the most luxurious of hotels but quirky none the less!
DIY Christmas Lighting!
Love it or loath it, DIY Christmas lighting is here to stay and we want to see your pictures of lighting jobs gone wrong or those that are just too bright to ignore! Below is one we saw on our festive travels. It is not a bad start but we know there is better out there.
Share your pictures with us: Elves@happychristmas.com
Snap up a pet this Christmas
Christmas is always an anxious time for animal welfare groups as they see an influx of unwanted cats, dogs guinea pigs etc. A recent article published in the Sunday Herald reported a slightly different version of the problem currently facing the Northern Territory in Australia. Abandoned baby crocodiles!!
At £130 each these cute baby reptiles are snapped up in their masses over the Christmas period, however, it becomes apparent that these reptiles do not stay small and cute for very long, with salt water crocodiles capable of growing up to 20ft in length!! Once they reach 30 inches in length it is a legal requirement for the owner to return the croc to the farm or pet shop that it was purchased from, but with no real incentive to do so it is common place for these animals to get released into the suburban jungle.
It is not uncommon to spot crocodiles outside shopping centres, on golf courses, in suburban streets or in town centres! No wonder online shopping is taking off down under!!
A Happy Christmas for online UK retailers
A recent article published in the Sunday Herald highlighted that the UK is expected to become the biggest online retail market in Europe with over 27 million people expected to buy something on the internet this year.
With total online sales in the UK set to reach £40 billion this year it is predicted to only get better for online retailers. Figures are expected to quadruple to over £160 billion by the year 2020 accounting for 40% of all UK retail sales.
As a general rule online retailers have lower overheads so the best thing is, consumers could save more than £13 billion a year by shopping online! However, with only 11 online shopping days to go until Christmas time is running out!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR ONLINE UK SHOP…
Save Money!!
You may have noticed that this year Happy Christmas have teamed up with I Want One Of Those (IWOOT) to bring you great offers to help you save money across their unique and wonderful product range!! In the build up to this Christmas use the following Happy Christmas discount codes to save money…
XMAS1
£10 off when £60 spent
End Date: 1st Jan 08
XMAS2
£15 off when £100 spent
End Date: 1st Jan 08
VOFF8
£5 Off when £20 spent
End Date: Oct 08
Click here for I WANT ONE OF THOSE!
Wii Wish you a Merry Christmas
For a second year running UK high streets have completely sold out of the Nintendo Wii. Consumers are now desperately scouring the web in order to find the jewel in the crown of Christmas presents this year.
The Wii Console in the UK normally retails for £179 ($360) however online with auction sites like ebay, Wiis are exchanging hands at over £350 ($700) with one desperate buyer reportedly paying over £2500 ($5000) for one!!
We use a couple of games consoles providers for our Happy Christmas shop, so if you are looking to buy one give these a try. But make sure to let us know your stories and how you are get on!
Shop GameShark Store.
Shop Gameseek
Join us on Facebook!
Having caught the Facebook bug we have decided to set up our own little page and invite all you guys and girls to have a place to share your thoughts, post reviews on Happy Christmas and download our current facebook apps.
We are also developing a few ideas for our site which we would like to test here first, in fact you can download all our current applications, so why don’t you drop by and join the fun?
Click here to find us on facebook
Oh Deer!
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in Great Britain has put a restriction on the movement of reindeers and other livestock this winter due to the latest outbreak of bluetongue disease.
With events and celebrations up and down the country looking set to be cancelled it leaves one big questions, how is Santa going to deliver his presents? He could always consider, the Tube, BA, or by Bus. However knowing what transport is like on the British Isles kids will still be waiting in March!
Don’t worry kids, I am sure Dasher , Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph will all be fine!
Christmas Tag Cloud
2007 2008 apps australia BBC Blog charity Christmas Christmas Games christmas gifts christmas lights Christmas Pudding christmas shopping Christmas Tree discount Discount Codes E-Cards free Fun Fun Christmas Games Games Gifts Happy Christmas hotels Kew Lights money New News New Year Offer Offers office online sales Party Games pictures presents Recipes Reindeer Sale Sales Shopping trees TV WinThings we like...
Categories
- Competitions (1)
- Discount Codes (5)
- Fun (10)
- Games (2)
- Gifts (6)
- Happy Christmas (9)
- Misc (5)
- News (40)
- Party Games (5)
- Recipes (6)
- Top Tips (3)
- Uncategorized (1)