Banner Blog

Trends data shows searches for furniture for home working are still significantly up since the pandemic, potentially indicating that a Great Return to the office as a result of the cost-of-living crisis may not be guaranteed.

Track your Banner deliveries from start to finish with our enhanced parcel scanning service

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve enhanced our parcel tracking functionality, which means you can now track your Banner deliveries at every stage of the journey...

From distribution and manufacturing, to retail and hospitality, introducing more sustainable purchasing habits is no longer just encouraged, but essential for businesses looking to meet the government’s Net Zero targets.

Julie Hadley, CSR and Social Value Manager at Banner, discusses how businesses can change their buying behaviour and optimise their waste processes to meet green objectives.

As virtual communication becomes increasingly important for businesses around the world, the quality and reliability of conferencing devices is more essential than ever.

EPOS have created the EXPAND line of premium audio and video solutions to specifically address the needs of decentralised teams, often working across locations and time zones.

For the 69%* of office workers who use a headset, speakerphone, personal webcam or video bar for conference calls, seamless collaboration is vital. EPOS know that 59%* of workers use an audio solution every single day, so they created this line to be the best quality and reliability out there. Because 37%* of everyday collaborators spend more than half their time away from their desk, the EXPAND Line is designed and crafted for flexibility, ease-of-use, and perfect connectivity with all devices.

Epson has developed a comprehensive range of reliable scanners with technologies that significantly cut the steps required to capture, store, and share documents.

From cost-effective entry level A4 devices, right through to A3 high-volume options with scanning capability of up to 90 pages per minute, Epson Document Scanners cover most everyday scanning requirements, allowing customers to gain more productivity and efficiency in their digitisation processes.

We are pleased to announce we are working with Circular Computing^TM

A new technology brand that believes I.T. shouldn’t cost the earth by focusing on creating a more ethical, sustainable, and socially responsible way to buy enterprise grade I.T. They produce leading brand remanufactured laptops. Their BSI Kitemark™ certified process remanufactures laptops to ‘equal or better than new’ with up to 40% cost savings compared to the latest models and an RMA of less than 3%.

With Plastic Free July now over, Julie Hadley, CSR and Social Value Manager at Banner, shares the wins, challenges, and reflections that occurred in her household throughout the month of cutting down on plastic waste.

You might expect, given my role, that I’d be a paragon of virtue, but like everyone else I’m time poor and with two teens in the house, I sometimes feel I’m on a hiding to nothing when it comes to the amount of plastic passing through here! It’s harder than you think to go plastic free and requires a real behaviour change, but with my two girls now on board, I’m quite pleased with the result.

The trigger was guilt, especially with the knowledge that lots of plastics are ‘wish-cycled’ – you pop it in the recycling and hope your local authority deals with it! Often though, the plastic we put for recycling goes for incineration, so the only way to deal with it was to cut down what I brought into the house.

Given that I’m the one doing most of the shopping, the buck stops with me…

Plastic free July was a good opportunity to tackle my mixed waste recycling output.  Our general waste is pretty minimal (around half to a third of a tall wheelie bin per fortnight) as I employ the following strategies:

• A compost bin in my garden for all fruit and veg peelings and cores
• Little cooked food waste as I plan food with portions and either freeze or leave any left-overs for lunch next day
• Salad drawer soup/stock to use up end of life veg and salad
• Cardboard and paper are recycled separately
• Plastics, cans and bottles are mixed separated from other waste and put in to mixed recycling
• Batteries and electricals I pop to one side for a visit to the local recycling centre
• Soft films and bags are recycled at my supermarket

With the above as my start point, I had a look at the mixed recycling bin contents and I’m sad to admit that our mixed recycling was 2 bins a fortnight, this included all glass, plastic and cans, of which I’d say plastic made up half.

A single day of home working each week could save the average person £5.73 per day, between £22.92 and £28.65 each month, or a whopping £297.96 per year, when factoring in average commuting costs, a morning coffee, and lunch. But many organisations still haven’t had the chance to fully optimise a hybrid working model.

The data, which is listed below, shows the potential for hybrid working to take some of the sting out of the cost-of-living crisis. As businesses in every sector struggle to fill positions, hybrid working has become a HR must-have.

When we had to work from home, it was the social aspect of the office that we missed most. Now that many of us are back in the office, at least part time, what are we missing? 

Some of us welcomed homeworking with open arms, others missed the office, but both sides will probably agree; the office doesn’t provide the same comfort as your own home.