Doom and gloom seems to be on the menu for most businesses at the moment as even though we are out of the recession, companies are still going into liquidation. Huge household names such as Woolworths, Habitat, etc… have closed down and gone into administration. When you think about this, most people will only see the retail shops close down, however behind every big business there are head offices and offices that also close. You may be wondering then, what happens to all the office furniture when the company shuts down. The answer is that it all gets cleared by companies such as ORS and they keep anything that they can re-use or sell.
ORS are one of the largest removal and second hand office furniture companies in the UK and they are currently over run with second hand furniture collected from companies that have gone bust. To give an example, Barclays recently closed one of their branches in Coventry. The result of this is that ORS removed 450 office desks from the building before even starting on the other office products and office furniture. To cope with this, ORS have been forced to open another warehouse in the West Midlands, that adds to their already 3 full warehouses.
ORS used to only sell about 155 second hand furniture, however now they sell approximately 85% since the recession hit.
People just don’t have the money to buy new anymore. You can pick up a nearly-new desk that would have sold new for £2,200 for just £800. The stuff coming in has barely been used – it’s so different from the old tatty furniture full of cobwebs that we once saw.” claims sales manager Adrian Kowalski.
Adrian admits that this trend will not last forever as he feels that people will switch back to buying new furniture again.

The two American office furniture giants Steelcase and Herman Miller are both seeing signs that point to the beginning of the long awaited upturn in the office furniture market. Both Companies who saw their production drop by more than 30% in 2009 are seeing an increase in enquiries from large corporate clients and the resumption of building projects that were put on hold in 2009. Industry pundits are predicting a modest growth in the sector of between 1 and 2.50%. Predictable the main obstacle to growth is the availability of finance. Many of the top office furniture manufactures have diversified into the Healthcare and Education sectors which aren’t subject to the same recessionary pressures however  there still remains a significant reliance on the activity and recovery of the Corporate and financial sectors where the relative spend on office furniture per head is higher

Office furniture including desks, bookcases and office chairs has been created by the remnants of the Grande Pier at Weston Super Mare. Kristian Gould a 32 year old employee of the Design and Build firm Utopia in Bristol has created the office furniture from benches of the pier which burnt down two years ago. Kristian found the benches at the Somerset wood recycling project who are a not for profit organisation and reutilise wood across Somerset. Born and bred in Weston Kristian recalls the benches from his youth and has been very pleased with the end results which are currently in his firm’s reception area.

Office furniture including desks, bookcases and office chairs has been created by the remnants of the Grande Pier at Weston Super Mare. Kristian Gould a 32 year old employee of the Design and Build firm Utopia in Bristol has created the office furniture from benches of the pier which burnt down two years ago. Kristian found the benches at the Somerset wood recycling project who are a not for profit organisation and reutilise wood across Somerset. Born and bred in Weston Kristian recalls the benches from his youth and has been very pleased with the end results which are currently in his firm’s reception area.

A novel approach too recycling, the Spanish design firm Bel and Bel have launched the Vespa office chair manufactured from old Vespa scooters. The chairs utilise the leg shields of the scooters in the main and are available in a striking range of colours.
Bel and Bel also specialise in recycling vintage cars into other useful furniture pieces

A lorry containing £20,000 worth of office furniture was stolen while parked at the Eurotek factory in Bognor Regis. The theft occurred between September 4th -7th. The white lorry has has Eurotek’s office furniture logo spread across it. Police think the theives might be offering the office furniture in the local area along the south coast.

In March 2007 Senator Office Furniture opened the doors to their new showroom Melton Street, London. The Office Reality team were invited up to look at the new and existing ranges – The Harley Axis and Modular Table worked well alongside the Trillipse Meeting Room Chairs. Seating manufacture Allemuir also had many products on display such as Pebble, Karma, Quorum. The desking range was also impressive with the new range Play taking centre stage on the ground floor. Play is a contemporory desking solution with impressive incorporated cable management solutions. Office Reality can book appointments for any potential or existing customers who are interested in Senator products. Please call to book an appointment

On the 1st of September 2009 the US Product Safety Commission in conjunction with OfficeMax announced a voluntary recall for the “OfficeMax Task Chair”. Having been tested by safety experts, results revealed that the chair was not fit for commercial use. The report stated that “The back and the base post of the chair can break while in use, posing a fall hazard to consumers”.
 In total, OfficeMax received 35 reports of the chair backs and columns breaking, 15 of which were injuries including lacerations, concussions and muscle strains. It is estimated that 216,000 units were manufactured and were sold between September 2003 and July 2008.
Customers that have purchased the chair are being advised to return the chair to the nearest OfficeMax store where they will receive a full refund, or if they do not have a receipt, they will receive a $55.00 gift certificate for OfficeMax.

A winner at the Neocon office furniture exhibition in Chicago this year was the Fit office chair by Interstuhl. This chair was given an award for design innovation. When Fit is not being used the chair will appear like a flat object with the mesh completely surrounding the frame. Only when it is sat does it take on the  appearance of a chair as the mesh shapes around the users body. Available for a variety of commercial uses such a as a breakout or informal conference chair Fit is available in a variety of mesh colours. The tension of the mesh is zoned to give altering flexibility from top to bottom so that the most ergonomic shape can be achieved. Interstuhl are one of the leading manufactures of office seating in Europe and are based in Germany. Normal lead time for the Fit chair is 6 weeks from order.

Sella office seating who went into receivership last week have been bought by Lichfield based The Business Fort. Having turned around Desk Link earlier in the year and as owners of the business supply company Viking the group has a successful tract record in the office furniture and office supplies sector. Sella office seating are based in Bury and have been involved in the manufacture of office chairs and furniture for the last 20 years. The Company acquired the rights to the office seating portfolio ACF office seating around 2 years ago. The acquisition will safeguard 27 jobs in the area