| Interview
with Caroline Wherritt
Improving
our environments, our economies and our world
Tell
me about Re-Work
Re-Work is a business with a social conscious. We divert office
furniture away from landfill, recycle and refurbish it to sell on
at fantastic prices to anyone but in particular start up business
and the charitable and voluntary sectors, who we know, have limited
resources. We work in partnership with Green-Works, who collect
surplus furniture from around the country and then refurbish and
recycle it for Re-Work to redistribute.
Don’t most businesses want to buy new office furniture?
Our partners, Green-Works, have proven the need for our products
and services and have been delivering a similar service for the
last 10 years. I think some people think that they want new furniture
and might look in a high street catalogue, but whilst they get a
cheap deal they are compromising on quality. You buy cheap, you
buy twice! The type of furniture we provide is the highest quality
but at high street prices. Re-Work’s products are specifically
designed to withstand the daily use of an office environment.
How
are you going to overcome the sigma of buying second hand?
I’d have to say that the price speaks for itself. Why buy
new when you can buy second hand for a fraction of the cost and
these products all look as good as new. Where there may have been
a slight scratch or stain, the price is reduced accordingly. I also
think that people will respond to the environmental aspect as what
Re-Work is doing is really recycling and redistributing surplus
office furniture and not trying to get people to buy sub-standard
products just because they are on a budget.
So
what makes Re-Work a socially responsible business?
First and foremost, we are an environmental business that reuse
and recycles office furniture. We also look to employ staff who
have been overlooked due to their qualifications or age. Any profits
we make are redistributed amongst the community and to environmental
causes. Perhaps most importantly, we conduct our business in a respectful
and ethical manner.
Who
are your customers?
Anyone and everyone! We are an attractive prospect to many customers
because of our prices and others obviously respond to our ethics.
We particularly feel we have an obligation to provide cost effective
office solutions to business start up’s and voluntary organisations
across the region.
What
do you see for the future of Re-Work?
At the minute we are concentrating on developing our retail operations
in partnership with Green-Works (link)
but within a year will be starting to collect surplus office furniture
from businesses around the region. The logistical and human resources
involved in the collection side of things will take time to put
in place, but eventually we will be a hub for satellite retail operations
throughout the region, redistributing office furniture to local
area projects.
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