Office management is an extremely broad topic and can cover everything from fixing a leaking tap to running a fleet of cars, and from purchasing a new copier to organising the contract for landscaping the company's grounds.

There are common competencies, however, and the British Institute of Facilities Management has narrowed these down to a mere 20! See the piece on moving from PA to OM for more info (Facilitating your next move). On this subject, you'll also enjoy Lee Morrissey's article on office management, delivered with her usual tongue-in-cheek style.

Moving offices is just one long tick-list of chores, and shouldn't be as scary as it sounds. Or at least, that's what James Gilbey reckons. (He obviously hasn't factored in the scope for expensive errors, like nobody having the keys for the new building which leaves five removal vans in the car park for half a day, or like the removal van being stuck in a protest rally - both of which have happened to poor unfortunate firms!). But follow James' advice and with luck, you won't go far wrong.

The colour of your office can have a direct effect on how you feel at work, says Maureen Moody, a long-time journalist in the secretarial world and a very welcome addition to the DeskDemon Express writing team. Maureen explains what impact colours have and advises accordingly.

And Sara Goodwins gives us some excellent guidance on turning the office into a more environmentally friendly operation. According to Sara, it's not hard to do, and brings many extra dividends.

In this issue we also turn to the very serious matter of fire safety. Fire regulations will be changing in April next year, and fire certificates will disappear. More onus will be placed on firms to monitor their own safety measures, so to get you thinking about this life-and-death issue, we've given you some key pointers for carrying out a fire risk assessment at your premises.

On a more fun note, we also welcome our first PA to share her "OUCH! I wish I'd known that!" story with us. Find out about a lesson that PA Sandra learnt the hard way.

And finally, thanks so much to those of you who took the time to fill in the DeskDemon survey – the results made fascinating reading, and it's great to have some feedback on how we're doing. The majority of you described the magazine as "informative", "fun and lively", "relevant" and "valuable", which is just what we like to hear.

It seems that most of you are happy to receive your free magazine on a monthly basis, too, and that aside from using the eight main articles in each issue, you also find useful the DeskDemon News section, with its updates on what's happening on the DeskDemon site. Also popular was the Essential Contacts section, which gives direct weblinks to all of the products and suppliers in each issue, saving you time.

Currently, DeskDemon Express covers one topic each month, such as 'Career Issues', 'Office Management' or 'Business Travel'. Some of those polled stated a preference for information on a broader range of topics, so we'll be looking at how to achieve this in the coming months.

In the meantime, do keep those letters and emails coming in (express@deskdemon.com) as we love to hear what you're up to.

With best wishes