Banking on Better: Insightful Environments Transforms Thousands of Desks for Lloyds in Refurb Project

Ida Gorecka • December 10, 2024

Pioneering Office Furniture Refurbishment at Scale: A Banking Giant's Solution



With an increased emphasis on sustainability and ESG within Lloyds group over the last few years, Coggin SOS were approached by one of our long-standing partners, Insightful Environments, to provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution to a UK-wide project in which the banking giant wanted to refresh their current workspaces. 


Working alongside removals teams and Project Managers to remove and transport desks from sites around the UK, Coggin SOS have managed to make the resizing and refurbishing of Lloyds current asset portfolio a simple and obvious choice, saving time, unnecessary carbon emissions and providing Lloyds with 'new' desks that fit in with their focus to improve the standard of their current office workspaces.

Breaking New Ground in Corporate Office Furniture Reuse

In a continuous rolling programme of improvements, Coggin SOS has refurbished over 2500 desks that would typically have been replaced with new, while current desks could have unnecessarily ended up in landfill. 


Our specialist refurbishing team at Coggin SOS has worked alongside both Lloyds and Insightful Environments to show that major financial institutions can implement circular economy principles without compromising on quality or workplace standards.


The Numbers:


  • 207,690kg of carbon emissions prevented - equivalent to powering 56 UK homes for a year!
  • Over £784,875 saved compared to buying new (based on average new desk costs of £370)
  • Carbon saving equivalent to taking 1,057,142 miles of car travel off the road
  • 2,415 desks given new life through refurbishing and resizing

Used Office Furniture: Redefining What's Possible

Insightful Environments fundamentally challenge how corporate clients think about workplace assets. By working with our team at Coggin SOS, they've shown that:


  • Large-scale office furniture refurbishment is viable for major financial institutions
  • Substantial cost savings can be achieved without compromising quality
  • Environmental goals can be met through practical, measurable actions
  • Corporate furniture doesn't need to follow a linear "buy-use-dispose" model


The successful delivery of this large-scale project at Lloyds Banking Group demonstrates expertise in action. While Insightful Environments led the workplace strategy, the Coggin SOS skilled team took each desk through our specialist refurbishment process. 


Our workshop professionals carefully resized and restored over 2,500 desks to Lloyds' exact specifications, transforming dated furniture into workspace assets that look and perform like new. This hands-on approach proves that quality refurbishment can deliver results that match or exceed new furniture - at a fraction of the cost and carbon footprint.


Working together, we haven't just saved furniture from landfill - we've created a blueprint for sustainable workplace transformation that other corporations can follow.


But, this isn't the end of the story - it's a beginning. Insightful Environments and Coggin SOS continue to push boundaries in sustainable workplace solutions, and we're proud to support them in proving that with the right expertise and partnership, major corporations can transform their environmental impact while maintaining world-class workplace standards.


If you're looking to make sustainable choices for your workplace furniture while maintaining the highest quality standards, refurbishment could be your smartest option. 


Contact our team today to discover how we can help transform your office furniture into renewed, sustainable workplace solutions.

The Office Furniture Strategy That's Hiding in Plain Sight

By Sam Coggin • October 16, 2025
Why Treating Furniture as Disposable Is Costing You More Than Money Walk into any office during a refurbishment and you'll see it: perfectly functional furniture heading for skips whilst new equivalents get ordered. We've normalised a throwaway culture that makes no business sense. Here's the thing—your office furniture strategy is actually a resource management strategy. And most businesses are getting it completely wrong. The 10-Year Desk That Could Last 30 Quality office furniture is engineered to last decades. That Herman Miller chair? Built for 30+ years of daily use. Solid wood desks? Practically indestructible with basic maintenance. Even well-made MDF furniture can serve for 15-20 years. Yet average office furniture replacement cycles run 5-7 years. Not because furniture fails—because offices move, rebrand, or someone decides it looks dated. We're throwing away assets with 70% of their useful life remaining. The Hidden Value in "Old" Office Furniture That dated reception desk isn't broken—it just needs refinishing. The conference table that doesn't match your new brand colours? It's still a conference table. Those filing cabinets from 2010? They still file things. The furniture reuse market is booming because smart businesses realised: Refurbishment costs 20-40% of replacement Quality vintage office furniture often exceeds modern standards "Dated" to you might be "perfect" for someone else Storage costs less than disposal plus replacement Why Circular Makes Commercial Sense The traditional model: Buy → Use (5 years) → Skip → Landfill fees → Buy again The circular model: Buy quality → Use → Refurbish → Use → Redeploy internally → Sell/donate → Someone else uses The second model extracts maximum value from every purchase. It's not environmental ideology—it's basic asset management. The Material Hierarchy of Sense When you must dispose of furniture, the value recovery hierarchy is straightforward: Metal furniture (filing cabinets, desk frames): Scrap value often covers removal costs Infinitely recyclable without quality loss Local scrap dealers will collect Wooden furniture: Refurbishment market is strong Solid wood retains value for decades Worst case: biomass fuel value Upholstered items: Reupholstery extends life by decades Foam and fabric recycling infrastructure growing Frame often outlasts covering by years Plastic furniture: Limited reuse market Recycling depends on plastic type Often the truly disposable option The Procurement Shift That Changes Everything Instead of asking "What's cheapest?" ask: What's the total life cost including disposal? Can we lease furniture and return it? Is there a take-back scheme? What's the refurbishment potential? Could we buy refurbished instead? Quality furniture that costs twice as much but lasts three times longer isn't expensive—it's a bargain. Your Practical Action Plan This month: Audit furniture due for replacement—does it really need replacing? Get refurbishment quotes alongside replacement quotes Find local furniture reuse charities—tax benefits plus free removal This quarter: Build furniture lifecycle into office move planning Create internal furniture redeployment system Partner with furniture refurbishment specialists This year: Shift procurement to quality + longevity over low initial cost Track furniture age and plan maintenance, not just replacement Calculate true total cost of ownership including disposal The Business Case Nobody's Making Every piece of furniture that gets reused or refurbished: Reduces procurement costs Eliminates disposal fees Maintains proven functionality Avoids delivery disruption Prevents waste compliance headaches This isn't about sustainability targets. It's about extracting maximum value from assets you've already paid for. The Bottom Line We've been conditioned to see office furniture as disposable. But it's not packaging—it's infrastructure. And successful businesses don't throw away functioning infrastructure. Your office furniture strategy shouldn't be about staying trendy. It should be about managing valuable assets sensibly. Next time someone suggests replacing functional furniture, ask: "What's actually wrong with what we have?" The answer might save you more than money. Want to discuss furniture lifecycle strategies? Share your biggest office furniture challenge in the comments.
Refurbished Herman Miller Aeron chair in a home office with text overlay on size and options guide.

Aeron Chairs: How to Choose the Right Size and Options

By Sam Coggin • September 30, 2025
Discover how to choose the right size and options for a Herman Miller Aeron chair. Save money and support sustainability with refurbished models.

One Size Doesn't Fit All: The Benefits of Resizing and Repurposing Office Desks

By Ida Gorecka • September 8, 2025
Your office transformation is approved. Budget's signed off. New layout's finalised. There's just one problem: those 1600mm executive desks that worked perfectly in the old corner offices are now 400mm too wide for your new collaborative pods. The reception desk you spent £3,000 on last year? It's the wrong height entirely for your rebrand. Most facilities managers would see this as a disposal problem. Skip hire , landfill tax , 12-week lead times for replacements. But what if that's completely backwards? What if the furniture that doesn't fit isn't a problem to solve, but an asset to unlock? Every year in the UK, around 1.2 million desks and 1.8 million office chairs are sent to landfill and only 14 % of them are being reused (Source: WRAP , Lancashire Business View ). Those old, "wrong-sized" desks you're planning to skip? They can be professionally refurbished and resized to your exact specifications in 7-10 days , at 40-70% less than new , with zero waste and a 12-month warranty . This article is for facilities managers, procurement leads, and fit-out teams who want practical, product-focused solutions. You’ll see when resizing and repurposing makes sense, the savings it delivers, the compliance boxes it ticks, and how to roll it out step by step. Curious what your current desks could deliver if resized or refurbished? Book a free assessment - we’ll map options, costs, and timelines for you.