Desk pads, when branded thoughtfully, can be a really nice freebie from suppliers, and is one of the few items for which I'd break my `no gifts' rule. The prob

Desk pads, when branded thoughtfully, can be a really nice freebie from suppliers, and is one of the few items for which I'd break my `no gifts' rule. The problem I find is that a lot of suppliers go completely overboard on the branding and decoration, and leave almost no space for writing on. The last two years we received them at my old work, the recruitment agency supplying them had covered about 80% of the surface with black gradients, green `starbursts', and various other bits of advertising information, leaving a tiny island of usable space --- perhaps the size of a sheet of A4 paper --- in the middle of the pad. They ended up in the recycling because, for most people, an A4 pad was more useful. As for the strength of butcher-paper, all that I've encountered in the UK has been pretty strong, and resists breaking/ripping when pulled from either end. The downside is I've never seen it for sale by the roll in anything other than kraft/brown, which might limit its usefulness in this case.