From Purchase to Repurpose: How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Office Furniture
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 (Source: 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.
The Real Cost of Buying New: What You Should Consider
If you're managing a workplace transition - whether that’s a move, expansion, or layout change - you’ve likely felt the pressure to start fresh with new furniture. For many organisations, fit-out professionals and facilities managers, it feels like the simplest option: order new, deliver fast, move on. But that decision often leads to overspending, supply delays, and a growing pile of unnecessary waste.
New waste regulations are live. Find out more in
this article
to make sure your office furniture plan is still compliant.
Office spaces don’t need more short-term fixes. They need smarter, longer-term thinking. All too often, cheap, fast-turnaround furniture wears out quickly and can’t be repaired or reused, locking you into a cycle of replacements that drains your budget and wastes valuable resources.
Refurbished office furniture
offers a clear alternative. Not as a compromise, but as a strategy. It helps you prioritise
quality over quantity, investing in furniture that lasts longer and adapts to your changing needs.
Choosing refurbished can:
- Cuts capital costs - ideal for stretched or fixed budgets
- Deliver in as little as 10 days, keeping projects on track
- Avoid Scope 3 carbon impacts and mounting disposal costs
- Provide traceable ESG data to support tenders, sustainability frameworks, and internal reporting
If you’re not sure where to start, that’s where we come in. At Coggin SOS, we help organisations across the UK assess what they already own and uncover the value that’s hiding in plain sight, saving thousands in the process.
Contact us
today to explore your refurbishment options - it could be your most valuable first step.
The Furniture Lifecycle - Five Circular Touchpoints
1. Specify for Serviceability
Think ahead when you buy. Choose items that are modular, durable, of good quality, and repairable. Can you replace components easily? Is the product made with materials that age well? Asking these questions now means you’re not boxed into wasteful choices later. Brands like
Herman Miller,
Vitra, and
Orangebox are known for designing with longevity in mind. Many of their products are made to last 10-20 years!
For example, Herman Miller’s Aeron chair is
91% recyclable and has a design lifespan of over 12 years (Herman Miller). By investing in serviceable, high-end furniture, you're buying decades of value.
2. Use & Maintain
A little maintenance goes a long way. Regular inspections can catch early signs of wear such as loose screws, damaged castors, or stained upholstery, all of which can worsen over time if left unaddressed. Encourage your team to report faults early through a simple internal system. This could be as straightforward as a shared log or tagging system.
Routine checks help. Strategic refurbishment helps more. Take a look at
our top 5 office refurbishment tips that save you money, without compromising quality.
3. Refurbish (The Sweet Spot)
When furniture starts to look tired, it’s often nowhere near the end of its life. Professional refurbishment restores function and appearance with:
- Deep cleaning and sanitising
- Repainting or powder-coating frames
- Swapping damaged components
- Reupholstering to your chosen colours
This results in high-end, project-ready furniture and a typical cost saving of 30–80%, depending on the scale and scope of your project.
At Coggin SOS, we’ve refurbished over 10,000 desks, chairs and storage units, saving more than 300 tonnes of furniture from landfill to date.
4. Reconfigure & Repurpose
Your office furniture might be more flexible than you think. Most teams assume their existing desks and chairs are fixed assets - but in many cases, they can be resized,
reupholstered, and
reimagined
to meet new workspace demands.
At Coggin SOS, we regularly help clients adapt what they already have. Need smaller desks to suit a hybrid layout? We can resize existing tops. Want to freshen up tired breakout seating? We can reupholster chairs in your brand colours.
Go to
this article
to learn more about customising refurbished office furniture.
5. Recycle Responsibly
When furniture has truly reached the end of its life (beyond repair or refurbishment), it still shouldn’t end up in landfill.
Responsible recycling
ensures that every component, from timber panels to metal frames, fabrics, and plastics, is carefully dismantled and diverted through the correct UK recycling streams. It’s all part of
closing the loop - keeping valuable resources in circulation and supporting a genuinely
circular economy.
At Coggin SOS, we operate a zero-landfill
policy, and when you choose to refurbish or purchase refurbished furniture with us, we’ll recycle your old furniture free of charge.
Why Refurbishment Makes Sense for You
Whether you’re overseeing a fit-out, upgrading a workspace, or managing a multi-site rollout, you’re likely balancing a mix of tight budgets, sustainability requirements, and looming deadlines. Refurbishment offers a practical way to meet all those demands, without compromises.
Here’s why it works:
Cost savings you can measure
Refurbishing with Coggin SOS typically saves clients between 30-80% compared to buying new. Whether you're updating 10 chairs or 100 workstations, the difference can mean thousands, freeing up budget for other priorities.
Faster, smoother delivery
With
global supply chains
still unpredictable, waiting 8-12 weeks for new office furniture is often a risk. At Coggin SOS, refurbished items can be delivered in as little as
10 working days, especially if we’re working with your existing stock.
Fewer headaches
No need to coordinate multiple suppliers, wait on customs delays, or gamble on last-minute pricing changes. We handle the audit, refurbishment, delivery, and install, so your team can focus on what matters most.
Stronger sustainability and ESG outcomes
Refurbishment directly reduces Scope 3 emissions, which often make up the largest share of your
carbon footprint. According to
WRAP, refurbishing just one tonne of office desks avoids around 3.6 tonnes COâ‚‚e per year. And at Coggin SOS, we provide exclusive Savings Certificates with diversion data and carbon savings - ideal for ESG reports, tenders, and internal targets.
Quality you can trust
We refurbish premium-grade furniture from brands like Herman Miller, Vitra, Senator, and Orangebox, designed to last 10+ years. To give you peace of mind, refurbished furniture from Coggin SOS comes with a
12-month warranty as standard.
Considering buying refurbished? See
what’s in stock now.
You Asked - We Listened: Your Refurbishment Questions, Answered
We’ve had more and more of you asking practical questions about refurbished office furniture.
So here it is: your most common concerns, answered, based on how we work at Coggin SOS.
“Won’t refurbished furniture look used?”
Not at all. Every item we refurbish goes through a detailed process. Most customers can’t tell it’s refurbished, and that’s exactly the point.
“Isn’t refurbishment more hassle than just buying new?”
Not with us. At Coggin SOS, we handle everything from asset audits, storage, recycling your old furniture, and delivery. No third-party delays, no multiple suppliers. Just one expert team delivering a smooth, time-efficient process that’s tailored to your project.
“Can you handle large or multi-site projects?”
Definitely. We’ve delivered hundreds of refurbished desks and task chairs at a time, with installations and logistics designed around minimal disruption. Our infrastructure is built for scale.
“Will the furniture actually last?”
Yes, and often longer than some new, budget alternatives. We focus on high-end, commercial-grade brands like Herman Miller, Vitra, Orangebox, and Senator. These are designed to last 10+ years.
“Does refurbished furniture come with a warranty?”
It does. We include a 12-month warranty on most items as standard. We stand by our work, and we’re here if anything needs adjusting after installation.
“Can we customise it?”
Absolutely. Choose from a wide range of high-performance upholstery fabrics to match your brand or interior scheme. Want new sizes or layouts? We resize desks, add coloured tape to desk tops, and reconfigure systems to suit evolving needs.
“What if you don’t have what I need?”
We’ll source it for you. Our national network means we can track down premium second-hand stock, then refurbish it to match the rest of your space. You’re never limited to what’s just in stock.
Still wondering if refurbishment is right for you? Go you
this article
to find out more.
Final Thought: Don’t Replace What You Can Repurpose
Most office furniture still has years of life left. It doesn’t need replacing, it needs repurposing. And that choice doesn’t just save you money. It saves you time, hassle, and keeps valuable resources in the loop - not in landfill.
Why start from scratch when you can save time, cut costs, and keep materials in play? Refurbishment puts you firmly in the driver’s seat, supporting smarter decisions and a circular approach that turns what you already own into your biggest asset.
Ready to get more from what you already have?
Start the conversation
with our team today.
Why waste what still works? Refurbish it. Rethink it. Reuse it.
