30th Birthday Present Ideas?

Abbafan1972

Hi there. A work colleague is turning 30 very soon and our manager is organising a collection for her. There will be 7 people in our department contributing (she may ask some people in other departments as it’s quite a big company). She has also said if we have any ideas for a gift to please let her know. 

Does anyone have any suggestions please, as I am rubbish at this type of thing? 

TIA. 

gwynlas

Unless somebody on the team knowd her really well then it should be flowers and a gift token otherwise a piece of jewellery she can keep if she is into it.

Pollycat

gwynlas said:

Unless somebody on the team knowd her really well then it should be flowers and a gift token otherwise a piece of jewellery she can keep if she is into it.

I might have suggested a silk scarf but she may hate scarves.

Emmia

I'd not buy flowers - a complete pain to transport home. I'd rather a bottle of bubbly (cava/prosecco/champagne)

My usual go to otherwise are John Lewis gift vouchers.

Spendless

The thing is unless someone knows her likes and dislikes (or asks the birthday girl) then one person's treasure is another one's poison

eg you buy chocolates but she's diabetic. You buy flowers - she has hay fever. You buy alcohol - she's tee-total.

You could get a gift card - but again no point buying for a store she dislikes or is miles away from where she lives eg my nearest JL is now 75 miles away. . We can buy whole shopping mall gift cards where I live if that's an idea. 

JennyDavis

What did you get for you colleague?

JGB1955

My 'go to' is M&S vouchers - can be spent on meal deals, wine, clothes, furniture, household goods etc etc.

Grumpy_chap

I think a voucher for something to do rather than a thing can be better.  So long as it is an activity voucher that allows options.  For example, meal out voucher - Tesco sell several choices of dining cards with different restaurant mixes.  Other Supermarkets are available.

goled

I also vote for a voucher. Thus, your colleague can choose what to buy by herself.

From my own experience, I know that sometimes it is not easy to choose a gift for a co-worker. We've recently had to find a good retirement gift for our colleague. We ended up throwing out money and buying a watch for him, I found a good one on watchesofmayfair.com/brand/blancpain He was happy to receive it. And it has to be noted that I work in a big company, so it is pretty easy to gather money for something expensive.

Pollycat

Perhaps this birthday has already come and gone as the OP posted over 3 months ago and said:

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there. A work colleague is turning 30 very soon 

bridie925

What about a Nomination Italy bracelet? They are like charm bracelets, so each year/ occasion, you can get them a new charm to add.