Banner Blog

Alex Lawrence, Assistant Category Specialist, Procurement, University of Derby

At just 22, Alex Lawrence is making impressive inroads into a procurement career. He started in the accounts department at the University of Derby after he left school, before becoming a procurement apprentice. Recently he has been promoted to assistant category specialist. He has extended his knowledge and practical application of EU and UK procurement regulations by training, managing and evaluating tenders and improving his stakeholder and supplier management. He is also the subject matter expert on the University's new Oracle finance system and is part of the team that are instrumental in ongoing enhancement.

Talking to B News, Alex explains how he came to the role and what he wished he'd known as a school leaver.

With International Week of Happiness at Work from 23-27 September 2019, the business of being happy in our workplaces is deservedly receiving attention.

Being happy when we go about our work matters. It affects our morale, loyalty and our ability to carry out roles and responsibilities proactively and efficiently. And without greater happiness as an aim, any workplace wellbeing programme will struggle to succeed.

Our teams have been hard at work giving back to the community

We encourage our people to achieve great things by giving their time to worthwhile causes - here are just a few Banner and EVO Group team members who have been giving something back recently.

The Professional Range from Brother

As a platinum partner of Brother, here at Banner we love sharing new developments from our suppliers especially those that are focused on helping our customers and our environment.

Six reasons to choose HP cartridges

If you'd like organisation to play its part in the circular economy and improve its sustainability, your choice of printer cartridges could be one of the answers.

Here are six reasons why original HP cartridges are a good step towards more environmentally-friendly print.  

Student expectations are high when it comes to technology in their learning environment.

They expect simplicity, ease of use and reliability in the technology they use to reflect how connected they are to their everyday lives.

Here at Banner as an IT+ Silver Partner at Epson, we acknowledge their understanding of education and utilisation of that knowledge to design technology for efficient learning. The technology developed connects both faculty and students encouraging collaborative working and capturing attention.

The air we breathe can have a significant impact on our health 

With a new study* revealing that air pollution could cause mental health issues later in life, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifying outdoor air pollution as a cancer-causing agent (carcinogen)^, the quality of air in and around our workplaces, and schools, is worth questioning.

Quality of air inside a building can affect our health, comfort and productivity, with factors as diverse as mould, humidity, chemicals and building design affecting this.  

Employers are legally required to protect employees from stress at work

This requirement covers all organisations, with those employing more than five people expected to produce a written risk assessment to help prevent stress related issues from arising in the first place. 

With 15.4 million days taken off work for work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2017/18, according to the Labour Force Survey, mental health war responsible for more lost working days than any other single health issue.

Work related stress sees people take an average of 15.8 days each off work, which makes it important for employers to not only improve the support they offer, but also put in place preventive measures.

According to the HSE, the six main areas that can lead to work-related stress are demands, control, support, relationships, role and change.

September sees the start of Vascular Awareness Month and we’re looking at how your workspace can help keep you in good health.

Fellowes have put together some tips to help you create a healthy workspace, starting with your workspace layout.  It’s recommended that you fit it around yourself rather than you fit to the space. Using a workstation solution helps to reduce risk of workplace strain or injury. The 4 Zone Approach from Fellowes is designed to help demonstrate how to adapt your workspace, focusing on your needs, with the aim to improve health and comfort at work and overall productivity.

Helping our customers make more sustainable choices is one of our big missions at Banner.

From supporting organisations as they seek eco-friendlier products to helping calculate potential reductions in CO² emissions, water and energy use, we know every little step can make a difference.

But we also know achieving sustainability doesn’t always seem easy. In one survey* of 300 companies, only 2% were able to ‘achieve or exceed the sustainability expectations that were set’, and 81% of businesses ‘settled for the dilution of value and mediocre sustainability performance’.