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.

Refurbished Office Furniture Saves Overbury Over £2000 on Site Setup Costs

By Ida Gorecka • July 18, 2025
Anyone who's worked in construction knows that site setup costs can quickly spiral. For Overbury , one of the UK's leading fit-out and refurbishment specialists, managing these costs while maintaining professional standards is a constant balancing act. When setting up their latest construction site office, they faced a challenge familiar to many in the industry: creating a functional workspace quickly and cost-effectively. After seeing what we achieved together on their previous project, Overbury approached us with clear priorities - they needed a professional office setup delivered on a construction timeline. With tight deadlines to meet and costs to manage, they needed their office space ready quickly while avoiding the expense and environmental impact of buying new office furniture. Like many construction projects, this one came with complex requirements - specific layouts, tight timelines, and budget constraints - yet Overbury knew from experience that refurbished office furniture could deliver exactly what they needed.

From Purchase to Repurpose: How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Office Furniture

By Ida Gorecka • July 16, 2025
If you're managing an office move, refit, or hybrid transition, you've likely faced this question: do we buy new furniture, or make use of what we have? Every year, over 1.2 million desks and 1.8 million office chairs are sent to landfill in the UK- enough to fill Wembley Stadium twice. ( Source: WRAP ) With Landfill Tax raised to £126.15 per tonne in April 2025 (S ource: UK Government ), the cost of disposing office furniture is increasing fast. If you’re trying to balance budgets , meet ESG goals , and minimise downtime , choosing refurbishment over replacement could be the most strategic decision you make this year. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get more from what you already own. Saving thousands, supporting your ESG goals, and creating a more flexible, future-proof workspace. Got a project coming up? Get in touch and we’ll help you explore your refurbishment options.

Stretching the Education Budget: How Refurbished Furniture Delivers Quality Without the Cost

By Ida Gorecka • July 7, 2025
Your education budget is under more pressure than ever. Whether you're managing a school, college, or university, you know the challenge: creating inspiring learning environments while budgets shrink and demands grow. According to research by the IFS , between 2010/11 and 2022/23, funding received by colleges for 16-19 education dropped by nearly a quarter, and adult skills funding was cut by more than half. Meanwhile, overall surplus levels fell for the sector as a whole from £2,290 million (5.6 per cent of income) in 2021-22 to £1,284 million (2.9 per cent of income) in 2023-24 ( source ). This financial squeeze is hitting at exactly the wrong time. Your students deserve quality learning environments, but premium furniture prices make this increasingly difficult to achieve. But what if there was a solution that delivered professional-quality furniture without the premium price tag? What if you could create the inspiring spaces your students need while actually saving money ? By choosing refurbished office furniture , you can stretch your budget 3-5 times further, receive furniture in days rather than months, and create premium-quality learning environments - all without compromising on the standards your institution demands. Curious to see what's available? Browse our current inventory of high-quality refurbished educational furniture - updated daily and ready for fast delivery.