Hempsons minimise their environmental footprint

Hempsons’ Harrogate office has recently reconfigured their office to rationalise space and ensure all staff are working in an enhanced open plan environment. Hempsons have minimised the environmental impact of this process.

With a traditional clearance service there is no assurance on where redundant materials and equipment end up. This did not meet Hempsons’ commitment to the environment, so a small team of Harrogate staff took the lead in ensuring a more environmentally responsible solution . Due to the hard work of the staff involved and many hours on social media the majority of the redundant materials and equipment have either been given a new home and been reused or repurposed or have been recycled. This was more effort than paying a single clearance service,  and was a process taking nearly 4 months to complete, but the results were worth it. All desks, storage pedestals, filing cabinets and chairs were rehomed – even the broken ones went to individuals who could fix or up-cycle them.

The project left only approximately 1 tonne of landfill.

We were particularly pleased that an amount of our redundant office furniture has supported the local NHS, finding a new home with a local GP surgery. The Harrogate & Ripon Centres for Voluntary Service (HARCVS), which is a local charity that supports our communities, charities and volunteers, kindly send an email to the 900+ contacts on its distribution list. Many of the items were consequently distributed to small charities, who made contact with us to request furniture after receiving that email.

In addition we received nearly £400 of donations from grateful recipients to our current Hempsons’ national charity: The Alzheimer’s Society.