Handing someone a cheap plastic pen with your logo on it used to be standard practice at trade shows and networking events. That era is fading fast. Businesses across every sector are rethinking what they give away, and the shift toward eco-friendly alternatives is not just a trend but a competitive necessity.

For small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, the choice of promotional merchandise sends a message far beyond the logo printed on it. A reusable bottle or a notebook made from recycled materials tells a client that your company takes responsibility seriously. It also happens to be the kind of item people actually keep and use, which is the entire point of a giveaway in the first place.

Specialists like Greengiving have built entire catalogues around this idea, offering everything from seed paper to Fairtrade cotton bags. The growing demand from corporate buyers, government bodies and institutions suggests this is no passing fad. When organisations like McKinsey and L’Oréal are choosing sustainable giveaways, SMEs would be wise to pay attention to what that signals about market expectations.

The Real Cost of Throwaway Merchandise

Most traditional promotional items end up in a bin within a week. Research from the British Promotional Merchandise Association has repeatedly shown that usefulness is the top factor determining whether a branded item is kept or discarded. A flimsy keychain or a single-use plastic item fails that test almost every time.

There is a financial argument here too. Ordering five hundred cheap items that nobody wants is not a saving. It is a waste of budget that could have gone toward fewer, better products that actually sit on someone’s desk for months.

Sustainable alternatives tend to score higher on perceived value. A bamboo pen or a reusable coffee cup feels like a considered gift rather than a piece of marketing clutter. That distinction matters when you are trying to make an impression on a potential client or partner.

What Today’s Buyers Actually Want to Receive

The range of eco promotional products available now would surprise anyone who has not looked at the market recently. Seed paper that sprouts into wildflowers, erasable notebooks that replace hundreds of disposable ones, and drinkware from certified B Corp brands are all standard options. Even sweets and chocolates from ethical producers can be branded and gifted.

Practicality remains king. Items people integrate into their daily routine generate far more brand impressions than anything that ends up in a drawer. A Fairtrade cotton tote bag used for weekly shopping, for example, puts your logo in front of dozens of people every time it leaves the house.

Personalisation has also improved dramatically. Full-colour printing on recycled materials looks sharp and professional. The old excuse that eco products look dull or amateurish simply does not hold up anymore.

Aligning Giveaways With Your Brand Values

Choosing sustainable merchandise is not just about the product itself. It is about coherence. If your website talks about corporate responsibility but your conference stand is handing out plastic tat, that disconnect will not go unnoticed.

SMEs actually have an advantage here over larger corporations. Decisions can be made quickly, supply chains are shorter, and there is less bureaucracy between the idea and the execution. Switching to greener promotional items can happen in a matter of days when you work with a specialist supplier that holds stock and handles printing in-house.

Greengiving, for instance, operates its own printing facility and offers quotes within a single working day, with free delivery across the EU. That kind of speed matters when you have an event next week and a brand image to protect.

Measuring Impact Beyond Impressions

Marketing teams love to talk about impressions, but the real value of a promotional product lies in the relationship it reinforces. A thoughtfully chosen gift creates a moment of genuine appreciation. That emotional response is something a digital advert struggles to replicate.

Tracking the return on promotional merchandise is admittedly harder than tracking clicks. But consider what happens when a client pulls out a branded reusable bottle during a meeting with someone else. That is an endorsement no amount of paid media can buy.

For SMEs operating on tighter budgets, every pound spent on marketing needs to justify itself. Sustainable promotional items tend to have a longer lifespan, which stretches the cost per impression further than disposable alternatives ever could.

Where the Market Is Heading

EU regulations around single-use plastics and corporate sustainability reporting are tightening year on year. Businesses that shift toward greener promotional strategies now are simply getting ahead of requirements that will eventually become mandatory. Waiting until legislation forces the change means missing out on the reputational benefits of being early.

The promotional products industry itself is evolving rapidly, with platforms like Greengiving cataloguing over 1,200 eco-certified items aimed exclusively at business buyers. Consumer expectations around sustainability are only moving in one direction, and the brands people choose to work with reflect those expectations.

Smart SMEs are already treating their promotional merchandise as an extension of their sustainability strategy rather than an afterthought. The question is no longer whether to make the switch, but how quickly you can make it work for your brand.

MLU Properties leading plan for Halton Magistrates’ Court

An eyesore former court building looks set to become flats after plans were given the go-ahead.

Halton Magistrates’ Court next to Runcorn Shopping City has been disused since it was closed in 2017 as part of a national cost-cutting exercise.

An application was submitted last summer to turn two floors of the three-storey site into 10 apartments, and those plans have now been backed by Halton Council planners.

Planning documents state the initial 10 properties would be the first phase, with other phases to come. The scheme has been put forward by Staffordshire based MLU Properties.

A design and access statement submitted in support said the design of the building would employ materials intended to match what was already in place, adding: “however, the existing white UPVC Cladding will be replaced by anthracite grey UPVC.”

It said: “The building as a whole is proposed to be re-purposed instead of erecting a brand new building, this ensures a sustainable design ethos.”

The court was one of 86 closed as part of a review by the Ministry of Justice under the previous Tory government, It said the closures were part of a £700 million ‘modernisation’ plan to ‘make justice more efficient’.

But the move was heavily criticised at the time with the then safer Halton policy and performance board chairman Cllr Dave Thompson branding it ‘shameful’ and claiming the Government had used inaccurate data to justify its decision.

In 2021 a cannabis farm with more than a thousand plants was discovered in the derelict building, which sits next door to Runcorn Police Station.

Since its closure, Runcorn cases are now heard in Warrington, Chester, and other Cheshire courts.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

Lambert Smith Hampton has posted adverts for Grade II* listed buildings

Birkenhead and Wallasey town halls are being listed for sale as both of the historic buildings are marketed to developers. Wirral Council is currently looking at whether there is anyone interested in buying the buildings off it.

Two adverts have been posted by the council’s commissioned property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton for both of the Grade II* listed buildings. Birkenhead’s town hall sits in the heart of Hamilton Square while Wallasey’s overlooks the River Mersey on Brighton Street in Seacombe.

Brochures attached to the adverts say both town halls are “for sale” with a range of photos showcasing the inside and the outside of the buildings. Overall, Wallasey has a total floor space of 7,864 metres while Birkenhead has a floor space of 4,415 metres.

Both town halls are more than 100 years old with Wallasey’s built in 1916 while Birkenhead’s was constructed in 1887. However, Birkenhead Town Hall closed in 2025 as part of budget cuts that year with services moved over to Wallasey.

Earlier this year, the local authority looked at options about what to do with both landmarks going forward as part of a wider review of the land and buildings it owns. Councillors on March 11 decided to see what market interest there is in both buildings “to gain a better understanding of the viability of a sale of the assets in the current market”.

Elected members were told the council was looking to move as quickly as possible on the matter and further recommendations could be made later this year.

Despite the assets being listed for sale, the March report put before councillors said: “There is no commitment to sell either property at this stage. Any recommendation to sell would be presented at future meetings.

“This will ensure the committee understands what options are available to it and take a step closer to understanding the council’s future needs and the potential future use of these assets.”

At the time, it was estimated it costs the council £803,674 a year to run Wallasey Town Hall while Birkenhead Town Hall is costing £357,935 to maintain despite being closed. On top of this, condition surveys done in May 2024 revealed the buildings need at least £10m of work over the next decade.

The Lambert Smith Hampton brochure also said that to appoint someone to purchase the buildings would require the council “to seek internal approvals to proceed with a disposal”, adding the council “is not bound to accept the highest or any offer and reserves the right to enter into negotiations with any party”.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

NEW YORK — Oracle Corporation shares have delivered a volatile ride in 2026, dropping as much as 24% year-to-date from peaks near $345 in late 2025 before staging sharp rebounds on strong earnings and fresh AI announcements. As of mid-April, the stock trades around $162-$167, leaving many investors wondering whether to buy the dip or sell amid concerns over heavy capital spending and execution risks in the red-hot artificial intelligence infrastructure race.

Wall Street’s consensus leans decisively toward buying Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). Across roughly 35-40 analysts covering the company, the rating stands at Moderate Buy to Strong Buy, with the vast majority issuing Buy or Outperform recommendations. The average 12-month price target hovers near $245-$261, implying 50-60% upside from current levels. Optimistic forecasts reach as high as $400 from Guggenheim, while more conservative targets sit around $210-$240 from firms like JPMorgan and Barclays. Only a handful of Hold ratings and one lone Sell appear in recent tallies.

The bullish case rests on Oracle’s accelerating cloud infrastructure business, which benefits directly from surging enterprise demand for AI training and inference workloads. In fiscal third-quarter 2026 results released March 10, total revenue rose 22% year-over-year to $17.2 billion, beating estimates. Cloud revenue jumped 44% to $8.9 billion, with cloud infrastructure (IaaS) surging 84% in the period. Remaining performance obligations — a key forward-looking metric — exploded to $553 billion, up more than 300% year-over-year, signaling massive multi-year commitments from customers racing to secure AI capacity.

Oracle has positioned itself as a major player in the AI cloud ecosystem, landing landmark deals with hyperscalers and enterprises including Meta and NVIDIA. GPU-related revenues within its cloud infrastructure segment grew 177% in the prior quarter, underscoring the company’s ability to capture a slice of the explosive spending on specialized hardware. Management has guided for continued strong growth, projecting cloud infrastructure revenue to reach approximately $18 billion for the full fiscal 2026 year in earlier updates, with longer-term ambitions scaling into the tens of billions annually.

Chief Executive Safra Catz and Chairman Larry Ellison have emphasized Oracle’s differentiated offering: a complete stack that combines its world-class database technology with high-performance cloud infrastructure optimized for AI. The company’s multi-cloud strategy allows customers to run Oracle databases across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and its own OCI, providing flexibility that resonates with large enterprises wary of vendor lock-in. Recent product launches, including agentic AI applications and tools showcased at customer events, have sparked fresh buying interest and contributed to intraday surges exceeding 5% on positive news flow.

Yet the stock’s 2026 performance highlights real risks that give pause to some investors. Heavy capital expenditures to expand data center capacity have raised concerns about near-term margin pressure and balance-sheet strain. Oracle has issued significant debt to fund its build-out, though recent financings have eased liquidity worries. The stock’s pullback from 2025 highs reflects broader rotation out of some high-valuation AI names amid fears of an investment bubble, even as Oracle’s fundamentals show acceleration rather than slowdown.

Valuation remains a point of debate. At current prices, Oracle trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple in the mid-20s based on growing earnings estimates. Bulls argue this is attractive for a company delivering 20%+ revenue and earnings growth, especially compared to pure-play cloud peers trading at premium multiples. Bears counter that sustained high capex could compress free cash flow in the near term, and any slowdown in AI hype could weigh on sentiment.

Fiscal 2026 has already featured standout quarters. Cloud revenues have consistently outpaced the legacy software business, which has been flat to slightly down as customers migrate to subscription models. Non-GAAP earnings per share have shown robust double-digit gains, with the most recent quarter delivering beats on both top and bottom lines. Analysts have responded by raising price targets post-earnings, with several firms citing improved risk-reward after the year-to-date decline.

Dividend investors find additional appeal in Oracle’s reliable payout, which currently yields around 1.2-1.3%. The company has a history of returning capital while investing aggressively for growth, a balance that supports long-term holding.

Looking ahead, the remainder of 2026 will hinge on several catalysts. Oracle’s next earnings report, expected in early June for the fiscal fourth quarter, will provide updated guidance on cloud momentum and capex plans. Any acceleration in AI-related bookings or margin expansion could reignite the rally. Broader market factors, including Federal Reserve policy on interest rates and overall tech sector sentiment, will also influence performance.

Competition remains intense. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud dominate the infrastructure market, while specialized AI players and open-source alternatives challenge Oracle’s database stronghold. Oracle’s success depends on converting its massive RPO backlog into recognized revenue without major execution missteps or customer delays.

For growth-oriented investors, the AI tailwinds appear compelling. Oracle’s database moat gives it sticky, high-margin recurring revenue, while its cloud expansion opens a much larger addressable market. Analysts projecting 30%+ revenue compound annual growth rates over the next few years see the current valuation as undervalued relative to that trajectory.

Conservative investors may prefer to wait for more evidence of sustainable free cash flow growth or clearer margin trends before adding aggressively. Those already holding can view the 2026 dip as a potential averaging-down opportunity, provided they maintain a multi-year horizon.

Overall, the weight of analyst opinion and the company’s fundamental momentum support a Buy bias for Oracle stock in 2026. The combination of record cloud growth, enormous forward backlog and reasonable valuation after the pullback creates an attractive setup for patient investors betting on the continued industrialization of artificial intelligence.

Risks include macroeconomic slowdowns that could delay enterprise spending, intensifying competition that erodes pricing power, or unforeseen delays in data center deployments. Geopolitical tensions affecting semiconductor supply chains could also indirectly impact AI infrastructure timelines.

As Oracle continues its transformation from traditional software giant to AI cloud powerhouse, the coming quarters will test whether its aggressive investments deliver the anticipated returns. For now, Wall Street’s collective thumbs-up and substantial implied upside suggest that buying Oracle on weakness could reward those willing to ride out near-term volatility in pursuit of long-term AI-driven gains.