Meeting NHS Office Furniture Standards Through Office Furniture Refurbishment: A Guide for NHS Procurement Teams

Ida Gorecka • March 3, 2025

Big changes are happening in NHS procurement, and your trust needs to be ready. With 76% of NHS energy use coming from fossil fuels [source: BMJ 2024-079259] and ambitious Net Zero targets to meet, every procurement decision matters more than ever. 


But here's something you might not know: the office furniture you choose for your facilities today can help to drive change in your environmental impact tomorrow. Even better, making sustainable choices doesn't mean going over your budget or missing deadlines.


Think about your last furniture purchase. What if it could have:


  • Cut your carbon footprint 
  • Arrived faster than traditional options
  • Helped your trust meet its green goals
  • Saved you money


Want to see how your next procurement decision could tick all these boxes? Get in touch. We understand the challenges NHS trusts face, and we're here to make your work easier.


In this guide, we'll show you how office furniture refurbishment can help meet NHS standards while hitting your sustainability targets - all within budget and project timelines.

What This Means for Your NHS Trust

The traditional 'buy new, use, dispose' approach to NHS procurement is no longer sustainable - for budgets or the environment. 


The NHS is pioneering a new path, becoming the world's first health serviceto commit to net zero carbon emissions. We're already seeing impressive results - NHS teams have cut emissions equal to the power used by 1.1 million homes each year!


At the heart of this transformation is a shift to a circular economy, where furniture is refurbished and reused rather than thrown away. This approach does more than just support the Greener NHS initiative - it helps your trust:


  • Make smarter use of budgets
  • Meet sustainability targets
  • Stay fully compliant with NHS frameworks
  • Reduce waste across multiple facilities


Click here to find out more about circular economy and what England's new circular economy strategy means for your business.


For procurement teams managing multiple sites, this creates an opportunity to rethink how you source and manage office furniture. The goal isn't just hitting green targets, but getting better value from every pound while maintaining the high standards the NHS demands.


Have questions? Reach out to us to explore tailored solutions for your trust’s procurement needs.

The Benefits of Choosing Refurbished Office Furniture

1. Cost Savings Without Cutting Corners

Budgets are tight, every NHS procurement team knows that. Refurbished office furniture can reduce costs, freeing up vital funds for other areas without compromising on quality or compliance.


2. No Long Lead Times Get What You Need, Fast

Unlike brand-new furniture, which often comes with frustratingly long lead times, refurbished furniture is available immediately, ensuring rapid deployment with no disruption to your day-to-day operations.


3. 100% Compliance with NHS Procurement Standards

Every procurement decision has to meet strict NHS framework agreements. At Coggin SOS, our refurbished furniture fully complies with NHS health, safety, and sustainability standards, making it a hassle-free, risk-free choice for procurement teams.


4. A Huge Step Towards NHS Net Zero Targets

The NHS has made a bold commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045, and procurement teams play an important part in making that happen. Choosing refurbished furniture over new means:


  • Less waste-keeping perfectly good furniture out of landfill
  • Lower carbon emissions-cutting down on the energy-intensive manufacturing process
  • Fewer raw materials used-reducing environmental impact across the supply chain
  • It’s one of the most effective, immediate ways NHS trusts can take action on sustainability.


Learn how NHS infrastructure is adapting for a greener future.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals’ Second-Hand Office Furniture Solution

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust faced a challenge familiar to many NHS procurement teams: how to upgrade office spaces efficiently while keeping costs down and aligning with NHS sustainability targets.


A Partnership for Achieving ESG Targets through Refurbished Office Furniture


The trust chose Coggin SOS as their main supplier, not just for used refurbished office furniture, but also for furniture refurbishment and zero-landfill office clearance services.


The trust’s team had a clear vision: create a greener, more eco-friendly working environment for their staff, patients, and visitors. Through our partnership, they achieved this while keeping costs down compared to buying new office furniture. Their choice helped reduce carbon emissions, saved valuable resources, and kept functional office furniture out of landfills, and supported the circular economy.


Making Sustainability Work


By choosing second-hand refurbished office furniture, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals shows how NHS trusts can make fast progress toward their ESG and net-zero targets while maintaining professional standards. 


Find out more about this project here.


Want to learn how your trust could benefit from sustainable office solutions? Get in touch today and let our team run you through the options. 

Why Lancashire's Teaching Hospitals’ Success Story Could Be Your Blueprint

The choices you make about office furniture today will shape your NHS trust’s future. Many NHS procurement teams are already making the switch to sustainable options and seeing the results. You can either be the person who made positive changes happen, or the one who had to explain why they didn't. 


Ready to see what's possible for your office furniture project? Your next smart choice could be just around the corner. Simply get in touch.

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.

Why Paying More Isn't Always Better: The Smart Choice of Refurbished Ergonomic Chairs

By Ida Gorecka • August 19, 2025
Refitting an office today means juggling a lot: tighter budgets, faster timelines, and pressure to deliver on ESG goals. And when it comes to ergonomic chairs, the one piece of furniture an office team relies on every day, many assume paying more for “new” automatically means better. But that’s no longer true. Refurbished ergonomic chairs offer the same comfort , durability , and support as new, backed by warranties , come with less cost and with far shorter lead times . For facilities and procurement teams, that means more budget freed up for other priorities, and fewer delays holding back your project. At Coggin SOS, we work with organisations that once assumed refurbished meant second-best. Until they saw the results. High-performance, fully warranted ergonomic chairs. Fast delivery. Circular outcomes they could actually report on. And savings of up to 80% compared to new (check out our case studies here ). In this article, you’ll learn what refurbished office chairs really offer in practice, why they’re becoming a preferred option for FM teams and procurement leads, and how your next fit-out or move could be both greener and smarter than you think. Thinking about your next office project? Contact our team and see how premium refurbished ergonomic chairs can give you comfort, savings, and sustainability in one.

Beyond Recycling: The Role of Office Furniture in a Truly Sustainable Economy

By Ida Gorecka • August 7, 2025
If you're here, you're probably managing a lot. A relocation, a refurbishment, or a growing ESG brief. Maybe you’re under pressure to meet sustainability targets, stay on budget, and deliver results your team and clients can actually see. And right now, office furniture might not be on your radar. But it should be. In most organisations, furniture is still treated as an afterthought. It’s functional, it’s bulky, and when it’s no longer needed, it’s often sent straight to landfill. But here’s the truth: when you start thinking of office furniture as a strategic asset within the circular economy , everything changes. For your budget . Your carbon reporting . Your project timelines . Your reputation . This article is for you if you’re tired of defaulting to skips. If you want smarter ways to meet ESG goals without blowing your budget. If you’re ready to make office sustainability a measurable advantage - not just a checkbox. We’ll show you just how much office furniture is wasted each year, what it’s really costing your business, and how the circular economy can apply directly to your projects. You’ll learn how organisations like yours are saving thousands, avoiding skips entirely, and turning unwanted furniture into reportable ESG wins - plus practical steps to get started today. Curious what your office clearance could be worth? Get in touch with our team for a free circular furniture audit.