It’s two weeks to Christmas and there wasn’t a single decoration in sight around the office.

Time to change that. So I headed off into town to visit one of the Brunel’s newest stores and one billed as 'Europe’s Largest Christmas Store'.

The shop opened up late October and prides it self on selling items ‘from £1’.

Entering the former-Argos unit, I was expecting a festive mood, and I can’t say I was disappointed.

Although it was a bit chilly – the doors remained open at all times – it was Christmas everywhere I looked.

The editor had given me a budget of £20, and so I set about trying to buy the most festive decorations I could hunt down.

And where better to start than a desk-tree. That cost me a fiver, so already a quarter of my budget gone.

I ‘decorated’ it with a £1 line of red tinsel and another £1 set of golden baubles (only to realise once getting back to the office that the baubles had no string to attach them to the tree).

Sadly, I forgot a tree topper. I can’t remember seeing one that caught my eye in the store, but then again I could have just been distracted by the next object.

A model Santa. This is the kind of thing you would see at a garden centre and think ‘who would buy that, it looks so weird’. Well now you have your answer.

He cost me another £5 – overall I had now spent £12.

With £8 left I looked for some more nick-nacks.

Of course, no Christmas office is complete without a Santa hat. That set me back another pound and will remain on my head until Christmas Day.

Another must-have decoration is a wreath.

The shop had plenty to choose from (all for a quid) but the one that caught my eye was green and red with snowy tips. An almost-perfect match for the red and gold tree decorations I had picked up earlier.

The last two items, and perhaps tackiest, was a light up toy shop (another £5) and a cute penguin model (only £1).

And with that, my shopping was done. £20 spent in a local store, now to take it all back to the office.

The tree was quickly assembled and decorated, the Santa hat was promptly put on my head and the wreath is now hanging over our big monitor.

The penguin has taken up residence on the editor’s desk, surveying the reporters and making sure things keep chugging along.

The festive season is now well and truly flowing around the office.