Leaving Present Ideas for a Colleague (25 That Aren't a Card)

Where to start when someone’s leaving

You’ve got a week, a WhatsApp group that’s gone quiet since the initial “does anyone know what they’d like?”, and a strong sense that another mug isn’t going to cut it. Here’s a working list — from small practical gifts to the ones worth pooling money for — organised by budget and effort, so you can pick something and actually get it sorted.

Practical gifts people actually use

The safest leaving presents are the ones that solve a real problem, not the ones that look nice in a photo:

• A good water bottle or flask — genuinely used gifts beat decorative ones. Insulated, leak-proof, a brand people recognise.
• Noise-cancelling headphones — a strong “we noticed you commute/work in a noisy office” gift, especially for remote or hybrid leavers.
• A weekend bag or good backpack — works for almost anyone, doesn’t need much personalisation to feel thoughtful.
• A proper desk plant (if they’re staying in an office elsewhere) — low-effort, genuinely lasts, easy to source locally.

Experience gifts (when the budget allows)

If the team’s chipped in and there’s real budget to spend, an experience often lands better than an object:

• A meal at a restaurant they’ve mentioned wanting to try — a gift card removes the awkwardness of guessing cuisine or dietary needs.
• A spa day or massage voucher — a reliable choice for someone leaving after a stretch of hard work.
• Tickets to something they’re actually into — a gig, a match, a show. Worth the extra five minutes it takes to ask around the team for the right answer instead of guessing.
• A subscription (streaming, a hobby box, a coffee subscription) — spreads the gift out over months instead of ending on day one.

Personalised and sentimental gifts

These take more effort but tend to be the ones people keep:

• A photo book of team moments, nights out, project launches — genuinely effortful, and a good option if someone on the team is already a keen photographer.
• A handwritten card signed by everyone — still worth doing even alongside a bigger gift; specific, personal lines beat generic “good luck!” messages every time.
• A custom illustration or caricature — works well for a leaver with a strong personality or a running office joke.
• Engraved items (a pen, a watch, a keyring) — old-fashioned but still genuinely well received for longer-serving colleagues.

Group-pooled gifts (when everyone chips in)

For someone who’s been around a while, pooling money for one bigger gift usually beats a pile of small ones:

• A collection via an online pot — simplest option, but it puts all the thought into an amount of money rather than anything personal.
• One larger practical item the person has actually mentioned wanting — check with their partner or closest work friend before committing budget.
• A donation to a cause they care about, alongside a smaller personal gift — appropriate for colleagues who are hard to buy for.

The gift almost nobody does — and everyone remembers

Here’s the one that regularly gets the biggest reaction on the day, and it’s not really about money: a group video, made up of a short clip from everyone who wants to say something.

The reason it works is simple — a card gets read once and put in a drawer; a video with twenty different voices and faces gets watched again, forwarded to family, and kept. It also solves the actual logistics problem behind most leaving gifts: getting a scattered team (in the office, working from home, or moved on to other jobs) to contribute something in the same place without a group chat descending into chaos.

The reason it doesn’t happen more often is that organising it manually is a pain — chasing twenty people for clips, receiving nine sideways videos over WhatsApp, and editing them together the night before. That’s the specific problem GroupCheer exists to solve: you share one link, each person records a short clip in their browser (no app, no account), and the clips get edited into one polished montage you can play at the leaving do or send privately. Anyone who doesn’t want to be on camera can add a written message or photo instead, so it works even for the person who avoids being on camera.

It pairs well with almost everything else on this list — a practical gift plus a group video usually beats either on its own, and at £49 for the video, it’s cheaper than most experience gifts while reaching everyone who wants to contribute, including people who’ve already left the company.

Picking the right one

A rough guide, depending on budget and time:

Situation	Best fit
Short notice, small budget	Practical gift + handwritten card
Longer-serving colleague, team’s chipped in	Experience gift or one larger practical item
Team is remote, hybrid, or scattered across time zones	A group video — it’s the one gift that works regardless of where everyone sits
Want something that gets watched more than once	A group video, paired with any gift on this list

Whatever you choose, the thing that actually lands isn’t the price tag — it’s specific, personal messages from the people they worked with. That’s true whether it’s written in a card or recorded on camera.