Christmas gifts for employees can become surprisingly complicated.
For a team of five, spending £20 or £30 per person may feel manageable. Multiply that by 50, 100 or 500 employees and the budget changes considerably.
That is why many businesses look for small employee Christmas gifts that feel thoughtful without becoming expensive, difficult to distribute or wasteful.
The good news is that appreciation doesn’t have to come in a large gift box.
From an extra afternoon off to a handwritten note or something small employees can take home, there are plenty of ways to thank a team at Christmas without relying on generic corporate merchandise.
Here are 15 ideas for UK employers planning their Christmas thank-yous.
Before buying anything, consider whether your employees would appreciate time more than another physical gift.
Finishing early on the final working day, extending a lunch break or offering some flexibility around Christmas can be enormously appreciated.
It creates no packaging or unwanted products and can be particularly valuable during a busy December.
Of course, this won’t be practical for every organisation or role, but where it is possible, it is worth considering.
A card becomes much more meaningful when the message inside is specific.
Instead of simply writing Merry Christmas, thank the employee for something they have contributed during the year.
For a small team, handwritten messages are relatively easy. Larger organisations could ask individual managers to write cards for their own teams.
The cost is small, but the personal element matters.
A packet of wildflower seeds can work as a small standalone employee gift or as an addition to a larger Christmas present.
Packets can be personalised with your company name, logo or a message such as:
Thank you for all your hard work
or
Thank you for helping us grow
They’re small enough to place inside a Christmas card, add to an employee gift box or put at each place setting at a company Christmas meal.
After Christmas, employees can plant the seeds and enjoy the flowers later in the year.
INTERNAL LINK OPPORTUNITY: Link personalised wildflower seed packets to your most relevant corporate/personalised seed packet product page.
Instead of defaulting to a national chain, consider whether you can support another business in your area.
That could be a voucher for an independent café, bakery, bookshop or other local retailer.
It gives employees some choice while keeping some of your Christmas gifting budget within the local economy.
For larger workforces, check that the business can manage the volume before ordering.
Chocolate remains popular for a reason.
Rather than choosing the biggest box within your budget, consider buying something smaller but better quality.
Check dietary requirements before ordering and make sure alternatives are available where necessary.
For large teams, individually packaged products can also make distribution considerably easier.
Not every thank-you needs to be something employees take home.
If your workplace allows it, extending a Christmas lunch can create an opportunity for colleagues to spend time together without squeezing everything into the usual break.
For remote teams, you could instead give employees a small allowance to buy lunch and arrange an informal online get-together — although forcing everyone onto another video call may not feel like a gift!
A simple paper bag containing two or three carefully selected treats can work better than an elaborate hamper.
For example:
Keep the packaging proportionate to what is inside.
Some teams may prefer their Christmas gift budget to support a cause.
If you’re considering this, involving employees in choosing the charity can make the gesture more meaningful.
You might nominate several organisations and allow staff to vote, or choose a charity that has a genuine connection with your business or local community.
For workplaces where a traditional Christmas party isn’t practical, breakfast can be a more inclusive and comparatively inexpensive alternative.
Pastries, fruit, coffee and a little time away from desks can provide an opportunity to thank everyone together.
It can also suit businesses where employees have childcare or other commitments that make evening events difficult.
A small plant can make an attractive employee gift, particularly for office-based teams.
Think about practicality, though.
Employees working remotely will need their gift delivered, while commuters may not appreciate carrying a plant home on the train.
As with every idea on this list, consider the recipient before ordering hundreds of them.
A scratch card can turn a small gift into something interactive.
Instead of revealing a generic Christmas message, the concealed area could reveal a reward such as:
An extra hour for lunch
Coffee is on us
£10 gift voucher
Finish an hour early
or simply a personal Christmas message.
This works particularly well when different rewards are hidden underneath different cards.
INTERNAL LINK OPPORTUNITY: Link this section to your personalised Christmas scratch cards.
Before putting another branded mug or water bottle into circulation, consider something employees can enjoy and use up.
Coffee, tea, biscuits, confectionery or locally produced food can all work well.
Consumable gifts have one significant advantage: they don’t become permanent clutter if the recipient doesn’t particularly want them.
Again, check allergies and dietary requirements carefully.
One of the easiest ways to avoid unwanted gifts is to offer a choice.
That doesn’t necessarily mean providing dozens of options.
You might offer three:
A small gift | A voucher | A charity donation
This gives employees some control without creating an administrative nightmare for the person organising Christmas.
Perhaps your business already gives employees a bottle, voucher or box of chocolates each year.
You don’t necessarily need to replace it.
Instead, add something small that communicates the actual thank you.
A personalised card or seed packet costs relatively little compared with the main present but can make the whole gift feel more considered.
This is particularly useful for organisations buying gifts for hundreds of employees where even a small increase in the main gift budget becomes expensive.
It sounds obvious, but businesses don’t always do it.
Ask.
A simple anonymous staff survey could include questions such as:
Would you prefer a physical Christmas gift, voucher, food, charity donation or additional time/flexibility?
You may discover that what management assumes employees want is completely different from what the team would choose themselves.
That information is useful well beyond Christmas.
There is no correct amount.
A £5 gift accompanied by a sincere message may feel considerably more thoughtful than a £30 generic item ordered simply because the company gives everyone something every December.
For employers, however, there is also a practical tax consideration.
HMRC’s rules around trivial benefits can allow certain benefits costing £50 or less per employee to be provided without tax or National Insurance, provided the relevant conditions are met.
There are important rules and exceptions, so businesses should check the current HMRC guidance rather than assuming every £50 Christmas gift automatically qualifies.
HMRC GUIDANCE – HMRC guidance on trivial benefits.
When comparing Christmas gift ideas, don’t look only at the product price.
For 250 employees, consider:
Gift cost + personalisation + packaging + delivery + staff preparation time
A product costing £3 may become significantly more expensive if someone has to spend several days assembling individual gift boxes.
For larger teams, products that arrive ready to distribute can therefore be valuable even when their unit price is slightly higher.
Corporate Christmas gifting can easily become habitual.
“We always give everyone a mug.”
“We always make hampers.”
“We’ve always ordered branded notebooks.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean employees want them.
If sustainability is important to your organisation, reducing unnecessary purchasing can be just as relevant as choosing products made from different materials.
If you do make environmental claims about your Christmas gifts, make them specific and accurate.
The UK’s Green Claims Code provides guidance for businesses making environmental claims about products and services.
Competition and Markets Authority Green Claims Code.
Budget isn’t what makes an employee feel appreciated.
The difference is often in the message.
A packet of seeds handed out without explanation is simply a packet of seeds.
The same packet printed with:
Thank you for helping us grow this year
and accompanied by a handwritten note from a manager has a completely different meaning.
The same principle applies whether you’re giving chocolate, vouchers, plants or anything else.
Explain why you’re giving it.
If you’re buying for 100, 500 or even several thousand employees, start earlier than you think you need to.
Before ordering, establish:
Getting these decisions made early gives suppliers more time and gives you more options.
Employee Christmas gifting doesn’t need to mean expensive hampers or heavily branded merchandise.
Sometimes a card, an hour of somebody’s time back, a favourite treat or a small personalised gift is enough to make someone feel appreciated.
The important part is that the thank you feels genuine.
At Ways To Say Thank You, we create personalised paper seed packets for businesses, charities, schools and organisations across the UK.
They can be personalised with a company message or logo and used on their own, inside Christmas cards or as a small addition to employee gift boxes.
Phone Number:
0780 124 2710
