Gift suggestions for colleague moving to the UK

December 14, 2008 4:26 PM

Giftfilter: I'm looking for suggestions for a joint present for a co-worker moving from Australia to the UK. Cash, gift certificate, or something else?

My work colleague and friend is moving to the UK for a few years and I've been asked to suggest what we should buy as the gift from her colleagues. She's female, in her mid-twenties and very tech-savvy, so she has all the gadgety goodness she could need already. Since she's paring down her life to the bare essentials, cash (in the form of pounds) has been suggested but I think a few colleagues think cash is tacky. Is it? Or are there any UK online stores I could buy a gift certificate for her from? Something that would be useful for reasonably priced homewares or everyday needs would be good.

posted by andraste to shopping (4 comments total)

You don't say which part of the UK she's moving to, but a gift certificate sounds like a decent useful present which is more 'gifty' than cash. amazon.co.uk, argos.co.uk, homebase.co.uk and ikea.com are all national chains that sell a wide variety of useful home goods and furniture, both online and in stores (except amazon) and do gift certificates.
posted by ArkhanJG at 4:41 PM on December 14, 2008

I don't usually like to give cash or gift certificates as a gift, but it's much better for people who are about to move across continents. I think Argos and Amazon are pretty good ideas.
posted by grouse at 5:15 PM on December 14, 2008

Cash isn't always tacky.
The only thing more useful than large amounts of money is small amounts of small denomination currency. Trying to buy a sandwich with a fresh-from-the-exchange £50 note when you're jetlagged is truly awful.
A purse full of British coins or a wallet with small denomination notes is an excellent, and very thoughtful, present for someone about to travel.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:19 PM on December 14, 2008

Umbrella. A decent umbrella. Trust me.
posted by evil_esto at 2:07 AM on December 15, 2008