diff --git a/labs/meteor-client/client/globals.coffee b/labs/meteor-client/client/globals.coffee
index e6fe27cb0d..650ffea7dc 100755
--- a/labs/meteor-client/client/globals.coffee
+++ b/labs/meteor-client/client/globals.coffee
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# Convert a color `value` as integer to a hex color (e.g. 255 to #0000ff)
+@colourToHex = (value) ->
+	hex = parseInt(value).toString(16)
+	hex = "0" + hex while hex.length < 6
+	"##{hex}"
+
 # retrieve account for selected user
 @getCurrentUserFromSession = ->
   Meteor.Users.findOne("userId": getInSession("userId"))
@@ -45,6 +51,9 @@
       user.user.name
     else null
 
+Handlebars.registerHelper "colourToHex", (value) =>
+	@window.colourToHex(value)
+
 Handlebars.registerHelper 'equals', (a, b) -> # equals operator was dropped in Meteor's migration from Handlebars to Spacebars
   a is b
 
diff --git a/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.coffee b/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.coffee
index 668501647b..d54904c19e 100755
--- a/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.coffee
+++ b/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.coffee
@@ -161,12 +161,6 @@ Template.message.helpers
 		res = str.replace /\n/gim, '<br/>'
 		res = res.replace /\r/gim, '<br/>'
 	
-	getHexColor: (c) ->
-		if parseInt(c).toString(16).length is 4
-			"#00#{parseInt(c).toString(16)}"
-		else
-			"##{parseInt(c).toString(16)}"
-
 	# make links received from Flash client clickable in HTML
 	toClickable: (str) ->
         res = str.replace /<a href='event:/gim, "<a target='_blank' href='"
diff --git a/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.html b/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.html
index a66e7fcfac..bcd05b1b95 100755
--- a/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.html
+++ b/labs/meteor-client/client/views/chat/chat_bar.html
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 			</td>
 		</tr>
 	</table>
-	<div style="color:{{getHexColor message.from_color}}">{{{sanitizeAndFormat message.message}}}</div> <!-- Messages must be safely filtered and stripped -->
+	<div style="color:{{colourToHex message.from_color}}">{{{sanitizeAndFormat message.message}}}</div> <!-- Messages must be safely filtered and stripped -->
 </template>
 
 <!-- Displays the list of options available -->
diff --git a/labs/meteor-client/client/whiteboard_models/utils.coffee b/labs/meteor-client/client/whiteboard_models/utils.coffee
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 3fa9181a2f..c2123461b6
--- a/labs/meteor-client/client/whiteboard_models/utils.coffee
+++ b/labs/meteor-client/client/whiteboard_models/utils.coffee
@@ -34,9 +34,3 @@ Meteor.methods
       stroke: if stroke.toString().match(/\#.*/) then stroke else  colourToHex(stroke)
       "stroke-width": if thickness.toString().match(/.*px$/) then thickness else "#{thickness}px"
     r
-
-  # Convert a color `value` as integer to a hex color (e.g. 255 to #0000ff)
-  colourToHex = (value) ->
-    hex = value.toString(16)
-    hex = "0" + hex while hex.length < 6
-    "##{hex}"