6 Summer Corporate Gifts Your Team Will Actually Keep
The UK gets roughly three hot days a year, and it spends all three completely losing the plot. Offices turn into greenhouses, nobody can sleep, and there’s always one desk fan that the whole floor quietly wages war over.
The good news: a heatwave is the rare moment when branded merch can genuinely save the day, if you plan for it before the forecast does.
So here are seven summer corporate gifts our merch team has hand-picked for the heat, all sustainable branded merchandise built to be waved, worn and used all summer, not binned by lunchtime. Because the whole point of good branded merch is a logo people are actually glad to hold onto.
1. A portable mini fan made from recycled plastic
Proof that “recycled” doesn’t have to mean “flimsy.” Made from recycled plastic in a compact, travel-friendly build, this mini fan slips into any bag and pulls its weight the second the heat hits. Three speeds take you from a gentle desk breeze to full gale, whether you’re battling an outdoor event, a festival crowd, a packed club or just a properly humid commute.
It runs up to three hours on a charge and refuels from flat to full in two, using the included USB-A to USB-C cable. Quick, convenient cooling on the move, and a summer essential people will actually keep using long after the event. From £7.42 for 250.
Every order through Social Supermarket funds real social and environmental impact. 250 fans collects 83kg of plastic from the ocean!
2. A fan with no battery, no charger and no landfill future
The bamboo hand fan is a plastic-free, battery-free branded fan made from bamboo and paper, available in a range of brand colours.
Sometimes the simplest option is the one people actually keep. It needs nothing charging, ever, and comes in whatever colour matches your brand. From £1.85 for 250 units.
250 fans collects 19kg of plastic from the ocean!
3. The cooler bag that pulls plastic out of the ocean
The jute cooler bag is an insulated cotton-jute bag that funds ocean plastic recovery, collecting around 49kg of plastic per 250 units ordered through impact partner rePurpose Global.
That’s the why. The what is a proper cooler: cotton jute outer, aluminium foil lining and foam insulation that keeps lunches, picnics and warm-weather drinks genuinely cold. It supports waste workers on fair wages in the regions worst hit by pollution. Impact your ESG team can put in a slide, in a bag your people will use every summer. From £3.62 for 250
250 cooler bags collects 49kg of plastic from the ocean!
4. Sunscreen made from raspberry seeds bound for the bin
UpCircle’s SPF 25 mineral sunscreen is a reef-safe, vegan, plastic-negative sunscreen made from upcycled raspberry seeds that blocks 96% of UV rays.
The raspberry seeds are upcycled from the juicing industry, turned into an antioxidant-rich formula that would otherwise have gone to waste. UK-made, housed in a refillable glass jar with an aluminium lid, it absorbs in about 15 minutes with a light lavender scent. A genuinely useful summer gift that says you thought about your people, not just your logo. (Featured on ES Best and Indy Best.)
5. The stacking game that livens up any park gathering
The giant wooden block stacking game is a reusable, brandable Jenga-style game for summer events and brand activations.
It’s the Jenga-style block game everyone already knows how to play, made from smooth-sanded wooden blocks that stack into an increasingly tall and increasingly nerve-wracking tower.
Bring it out at the summer social, the team away day or the company picnic and watch a crowd form, because there’s always someone convinced they can pull off the impossible block.
Every block and the box carry your branding, so your logo is in their hands for the whole game, not glanced at and forgotten. Reusable at every event on the calendar, and a lot more memorable than another bowl of freebies. £16.50 per unit for 250.
250 tower blocks collect 280kg of plastic from the ocean!
6. The deck chair that makes your brand the one people photograph
The wooden beach deck chair is a portable, foldable branded chair for summer events and brand activations.
A brand activation in a single object. Made to be sat in, it turns a patch of a summer event into your space, the spot people gravitate to, relax in and, ideally, post from. Reusable across every event on the calendar, and a world away from the throwaway freebie. £46.82 for 50.
250 deck chairs collects a whopping 513kg of plastic from the ocean!
Ditch the disposable this summer
Good summer merch isn’t about surviving the heatwave. It’s about being the brand people remember once it’s over, because the gift is still in their bag, on their desk, or in their beach kit next August. That’s the difference between spend you justify and spend that keeps working.
Want a summer range built around your brand and your events? Book a call and we’ll bring the ideas before the next hot spell hits.
Summer corporate gifts: your questions answered
What are the best sustainable corporate gifts for summer?
The best sustainable summer corporate gifts are useful, reusable and built to last: recycled or rechargeable branded fans, insulated cooler bags, reef-safe mineral sunscreen, and reusable event pieces like wooden games and deck chairs. The test is simple: will someone still be using it next summer, or is it in a bin by the end of the event?
Are branded fans environmentally friendly?
They can be, if you choose the right ones. Look for fans made from recycled plastics such as recycled PP or recycled ABS, rechargeable models that avoid single-use batteries, and plastic-free options like bamboo and paper hand fans. Cheap single-use plastic giveaway fans are the ones to avoid.
What branded merchandise works best for summer events and brand activations?
Reusable, interactive pieces earn the most attention on an event floor. A giant wooden block stacking game draws a crowd and starts conversations, while a branded deck chair creates a photographable space people gravitate to. Pair them with practical giveaways like fans or cooler bags that guests take home and keep using.
How far in advance should I order summer corporate gifts?
Plan ahead where you can, since summer is peak season for events and gifting. As a rule we’d rather bring you ideas before the heatwave hits than scramble at the last minute. We recommend getting your order in 2 weeks before the intended delivery date to allow times for artwork approval.
