The most useless corporate gift ever?

A year ago the Crisis Solutions people were tearing around all over Europe and Middle East delivering crisis exercises for clients. As you probably know, one of the most important things in preparing for a crisis exercise is getting a decent cup of coffee. Many of the big coffee chains were offering discounts if you brought your coffee cup into the branch and, certainly in London, you were likely to get a glare from fellow customers if you took your coffee in a single-use cup.

The answer - said one of Crisis Solutions’ brightest stars - is a foldable coffee cup! The idea being that you carry it around in your bag and unfold it for your coffee, then fold it back up when you finish. Useful for us when on the road and surely appreciated by our clients. A few weeks later four hundred had arrived and were sitting in boxes in the office. The first client we handed them out to was in London and, sure enough, they were delighted. Move ahead a few months however and the situation had changed considerably. COVID-19 had reared its ugly head, and everyone was being encouraged to take extra precautions on infection control. But what’s more, the major coffee chains had banned people bringing in their own cups!

The world of crisis exercising and training was certainly very different in 2020. Online training and exercising has been taking up our time these last few months and we are now full-on with planning events for Q1 2021 which may, or may not, be physical events. Who knows what 2021 will bring? Whatever the challenges Crisis Solutions - with our 400 folding coffee cups - are ready!