The traditional box of chocolates, bottle of wine or branded plastic giveaway still has its place, but more businesses are looking for gifts that feel thoughtful, useful and appropriate to their values.
That makes Christmas a great opportunity to choose something a little different.
Whether you’re buying for five employees or hundreds of customers, sustainable corporate Christmas gifts don’t need to be expensive or elaborate. Small, carefully chosen gifts can make just as much of an impression — particularly when they’re personalised or have a story behind them.
Here are nine ideas for businesses planning their Christmas gifting for 2026.
Sometimes the smallest gifts are the most memorable.
Personalised wildflower seed packets can be printed with your company logo, Christmas message, branding or QR code and given to employees, customers or event guests.
Unlike many promotional giveaways, the recipient actually gets something to do with the gift: sow the seeds and watch them grow.
They’re particularly useful when you need to send gifts in volume because they’re compact enough for Christmas cards, postal campaigns, gift boxes and event tables.
At Ways To Say Thank You, our branded corporate seed packets can be customised for businesses, with orders starting from just 10 packets. They’re designed and printed in the UK using plastic-free, recyclable packaging.
They work particularly well for:
Rather than simply adding your logo, consider adding a message such as “Thank you for helping us grow this year”. It connects the gift with the relationship you’ve built with the recipient.
Corporate gifts don’t have to come from large gifting companies.
Look for an independent producer close to your business and create a small selection of locally made products such as preserves, biscuits, chocolate or coffee.
For companies with employees working remotely across the UK, smaller postal-friendly versions can work particularly well.
It also gives you a story to tell when you give the gift: who made it, where it came from and why you chose them.
If you want to give a physical product, choose something employees are genuinely likely to use.
Reusable insulated drinks containers, lunch containers, notebooks or quality shopping bags are much more useful than novelty promotional merchandise that may quickly be discarded.
If you’re adding company branding, consider keeping it subtle. A gift people want to use is more valuable than turning the item into an advert.
If your business already sends Christmas cards, consider making the card itself part of the gift.
A small seed packet can be attached inside a card, or a wildflower seed packet can simply be included with your usual Christmas message.
This works particularly well for businesses sending hundreds of cards because you don’t have to organise individual parcels.
A standard Ways To Say Thank You seed packet measures just 67 × 98 mm, making it easy to include within cards and other small-format gifts.
Not every Christmas present needs to be an object.
An experience can be particularly effective for smaller teams: afternoon tea, an activity, a meal together or tickets to something local.
Alternatively, give employees a choice between several experiences so the gift feels genuinely personal.
For remote teams, vouchers for independent restaurants, cinemas or local attractions can achieve something similar without everyone needing to be in the same place.
Instead of a large hamper filled with products people may not want, create a smaller box containing a handful of carefully selected items.
For example:
tea or coffee, a sweet treat, a handwritten card, a small candle and a packet of wildflower seeds.
The important part isn’t the number of products. It’s the presentation and the message that accompanies them.
A branded seed packet is particularly useful here because it can carry the company’s Christmas message without every other product needing to be branded.
Wildlife-focused gifts are another alternative to conventional promotional merchandise.
That might mean wildflower seeds, a small bird-feeding product, a wildlife charity donation or something designed to encourage biodiversity in gardens and outdoor spaces.
For wildflower gifts, however, businesses should avoid making sweeping environmental claims.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority advises businesses that environmental claims should be accurate, clear and supported by evidence. Broad terms such as “green”, “sustainable” and “eco-friendly” can potentially mislead customers if they’re not properly substantiated.
A better approach is to be specific.
For example, rather than simply saying a product is “good for the planet”, explain the actual characteristics: plastic-free packaging, recyclable paper packaging, UK-sourced seeds, or whichever statements can genuinely be evidenced.
You can read the government’s Green Claims Code guidance if environmental messaging forms part of your company’s marketing.
Another option is to replace some or all of the physical Christmas gift with a charitable donation.
You could allow employees to nominate local charities and divide the company’s Christmas donation between them.
For customer gifting, include a short note explaining what the company has supported rather than sending a traditional present.
Some businesses combine the two ideas: a modest physical thank-you alongside a charitable contribution.
The best employee gifts aren’t necessarily the most expensive.
A handwritten message acknowledging someone’s contribution can sometimes mean more than a generic hamper.
There may also be tax considerations worth knowing about.
HMRC currently says that an employee benefit can qualify as a trivial benefit where it costs £50 or less, isn’t cash or a cash voucher, isn’t provided as a reward for the employee’s work or performance and isn’t part of their contract. Different rules can apply in other circumstances, so businesses should check the current HMRC guidance rather than assuming every staff gift qualifies.
You can check the current rules directly in HMRC’s trivial benefits guidance.
Before placing a large order, ask five simple questions.
Will people actually want it?
Useful, edible, plantable or experiential gifts have an obvious purpose.
Is there unnecessary packaging?
A beautiful presentation doesn’t necessarily require layers of plastic and oversized boxes.
Can it be personalised?
A thoughtful Christmas message can make an inexpensive gift feel far more personal.
Is it practical to distribute?
This becomes increasingly important when you’re buying for 100, 500 or 1,000 people.
Can you substantiate the environmental claims you’re making?
Be specific about materials and credentials rather than relying on vague sustainability language.
September may feel early to start thinking about Christmas, but for businesses ordering personalised or branded gifts, it makes sense to plan ahead.
You’ll have more time to choose the design, arrange branding, approve artwork and organise how the gifts will be distributed.
It also means you’re not making a rushed decision in December.
If you’re looking for a small corporate Christmas gift that can carry your own branding and message, Ways To Say Thank You creates personalised wildflower seed packets for businesses across the UK.
Packets can be customised with your logo, colours, message, tagline or QR code, and corporate orders start from just 10 packets.
They can be slipped inside a Christmas card, added to an employee gift box, placed at a Christmas event or sent to customers as a simple end-of-year thank-you.
Explore our corporate branded seed packets for businesses or browse the wider Ways To Say Thank You online shop.
A small packet. A genuine thank-you. And something your recipient can grow long after Christmas is over.
Phone Number:
0780 124 2710
