Branded Merchandise for Corporate Away Days and Team Events

Merchandise at a team event works when it's useful on the day and still used afterwards. Matching t-shirts or hoodies suit a team challenge, bottles and caps suit an outdoor day, a notebook suits a planning session, and one good item suits a celebration. Decide what the day needs, then collect sizes and addresses early, because those are the steps that sit with you.

This guide covers what to order for different kinds of team event, how to handle clothing and remote staff, and how to order against a fixed date.

What is merchandise at a team event for?

Recognition and belonging, for people who already work for you.

An external event is about reaching people who don't know you. An away day works the other way round: the audience is your own team, so brand awareness matters far less than whether people feel the day was worth their time. The merchandise should feel like a thank you rather than marketing.

That changes the buying decision in two ways. Quality matters more than volume, because one item people are glad to have beats a bag of things nobody asked for. And everyone should get the same thing, because colleagues compare what they were given.

What works for an outdoor away day or team challenge?

Kit people need on the day, in colours that make teams easy to spot.

T-shirts or hoodies in team colours. They make it obvious who's on which team, they look good in the photos, and a well made hoodie gets worn long after the day. See our clothing and caps.

Reusable bottles. Everyone needs water on an active day, and a decent bottle goes to the gym the following week. See our mugs and bottles.

Caps and umbrellas. One for sun and one for rain, depending on the forecast and the time of year. See our umbrellas.

A cooler bag for food. Useful on the day and all summer after it. Our guide to branded bags beyond the cotton tote covers cooler bags.

If the challenge is raising money for a charity, our guide to promotional products for charity events covers merchandise for fundraising.

What works for a planning day or offsite?

Things people use in the sessions and at their desks afterwards.

A notebook and a good pen get used in every session, and a tote bag carries it all. For a larger group, lanyards and name badges help people who don't usually work together, and a power bank is welcome on a long day away from a desk.

Our guide to the best promotional pens covers pens that get kept. If your offsite runs like a conference, with speakers and sessions, our guide to conference merchandise covers the rest.

What works for a celebration or milestone?

One good item that marks the occasion.

A company anniversary, an office opening or the end of a major project is worth marking with something people keep. An insulated travel mug, an engraved pen or a quality notebook works well. This is one occasion where putting the date on the item makes sense, because it's a keepsake rather than a giveaway.

Keep the branding discreet, and give everyone the same thing. If you're giving individual gifts rather than kit for the day, check the £50 trivial benefits rule covered in our piece on Christmas gifts for staff before you set a budget, including its condition that the gift isn't a reward for work.

How do you handle clothing for a team event?

Collect sizes before you order, privately and with a deadline.

Collecting sizes is almost always the slowest part of a clothing order, and it's entirely in your hands. Ask for size and fit in the same question, share a size chart because sizing varies between garments, and give one deadline.

Keep the order simple, with one garment in one colour per team and the size split providing the variety. Clothing product pages can show live stock by size, so check the sizes you need are in stock before you settle on a garment. Order a small buffer in the most common sizes, since someone always needs to swap.

If sizes are going to hold up the whole order, give the clothing out after the day rather than delaying everything else.

How do you include remote team members?

Send them the same kit, timed to arrive before the day.

If part of your team joins online, post their kit to arrive before the event, so they're wearing the same t-shirt or drinking from the same bottle as everyone in the room. Choose things that post well, and ask for a delivery address rather than using one on file, because not everyone wants a work parcel at home.

The mistake to avoid is a lesser kit for remote staff, which they notice quickly. Our welcome kit guide covers posting kit to people who work from home in more detail.

What should you leave out?

• Items that only make sense on the day. Event wristbands have a job to do, but they aren't the thing people keep.

• Mass giveaways at a small event. A pen from a bulk giveaway order feels impersonal at a team event.

• Guessed sizes. They lead to swaps, spares and people who can't wear what they were given.

• Heavy branding. People wear discreet branding outside work and leave loud branding in a drawer.

• Food without checking. Dietary requirements vary, so ask first.

How do you order against the date of the event?

Work back from the day, and check the delivery date on each product before you pay.

You'll see the current delivery date before you order. In your basket you select a delivery option for each line, each with its own date, so team clothing, bottles and gifts can each have the date that suits them. The date you select is guaranteed and locked once your order is placed, subject to normal payment and order conditions.

Build in time for the parts that sit with you: collecting sizes, confirming addresses for remote staff and getting your Visual Proof™ approved. If a manager or finance team needs to sign off the spend, share your basket with them first. It shows the basket as it was when you shared it, so share it again if anything changes.

If the away day happens every year, your past orders are stored in your account, so next year's kit can be a reorder rather than a fresh start.