Cutting Costs: How Facilities Teams Can Save with Recycled Furniture

Ida Gorecka • November 5, 2024

If you're managing facilities, you've likely encountered this scenario: Watching valuable office furniture being loaded into skips, knowing your next quarter's budget is already stretched thin. It's a common challenge in our industry, but one that deserves a smarter solution.

Understanding Your Office Furniture Lifecycle Costs

Every working day in the UK, more than 300 tons of office furniture end up in landfills. This is not only an environmental concern, but also a financial drain that impacts facilities' budgets nationwide.


As an experienced facilities manager, you understand the complexities. Office furniture management extends far beyond initial procurement. It's a continuous cycle of purchasing decisions, storage requirements, maintenance needs, and eventual disposal - each stage carrying costs that often exceed original budgets. Perhaps you're currently facing some of these challenges. You might be planning an office relocation, managing expensive storage space, or tasked with furnishing new areas while keeping costs under control. These are common pressure points in facilities management, but they don't have to remain obstacles.

The Cost of Second-Hand Office Furniture

At Coggin SOS, we’re challenging the status quo. 


A full workstation with a new desk and chair can run anywhere from £950 to £1,200. Our refurbished setups cost £365, offering the same professional look and functionality at a fraction of the price. For a 100-person office, that’s a potential saving of over £83,500!


Our refurbished Verco Ergoform Task Chairs are another example. A new chair costs £500; our refurbished option is just £125. That’s real money back in your budget, freeing you up to invest in other areas, whether it’s upgrading tech, improving facilities, or adding value in ways that matter to your team.


If you’re interested in more office furniture figures, please fill out our enquiry form here.

The Quality of Our Sustainable Office Furniture

We understand that any office furniture solution needs to maintain professional standards. That's why we've developed a comprehensive quality control process:


  • Every piece undergoes a thorough inspection
  • We replace any worn components
  • Professional cleaning and restoration
  • Mechanical testing for functionality
  • Final quality check before delivery


We stand behind our work with a 12-month warranty. No complicated terms, just a straightforward guarantee of quality.


Want to see the quality for yourself? Visit our showroom and compare our refurbished furniture with new pieces. Contact us today.

A Partnership Approach to Office Clearance

We understand that managing office furniture projects can be complex. That's why we've developed a streamlined process that handles everything from initial assessment to final installation.


At Coggin SOS, we begin by understanding your specific needs and challenges. Our team conducts a detailed site survey when needed, helping us understand your space and requirements completely. We then provide clear, detailed proposals that outline costs, timelines, and expected outcomes.


Throughout the project, you'll work with dedicated specialists who understand the complexities of facilities management. They'll keep you informed at every stage and ensure your project runs smoothly from start to finish.

Prove Your Environmental Leadership 

Choosing refurbished office furniture provides immediate environmental benefits that you can measure and report. This choice is not only sustainable but also useful for your clients and stakeholders, showing that your organisation genuinely cares about the environment and is actively contributing to a greener future.


We provide detailed documentation of your carbon savings and waste reduction, making it easy to demonstrate your environmental leadership. This documentation supports your ESG reporting requirements and helps demonstrate your commitment to sustainability-highlighting to clients and others that you take environmental responsibility seriously.

Experience the Difference with Our Office Furniture Solutions

When you work with Coggin SOS, you're getting more than just office furniture services-you're gaining a partner who understands your challenges. Our team brings over twenty years of industry experience to every project. 


Eager to get started on your next project? Contact us for a detailed discussion about your office furniture management needs. We'll provide you with a comprehensive cost analysis and custom refurbishment proposal that addresses your specific challenges and opportunities.

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.