Banner Blog

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and with everyone going through a rough few years, finding the right balance for your mental health within the workplace can be tricky.

For a lot of people being isolated during lockdowns was hard, but there will be many people who will still be struggling with a hybrid working solution, or a full return to work. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if someone is having a bad day mentally or if they have a lot on their plate.

How can you help a colleague who is struggling with their mental health at work?

Introducing you to the next member of our close knit Healthcare Team - John Harney

John brings a wealth of market knowledge and experience from the past 20 years to the Banner Healthcare Team.  He is a true advocate of carbon reduction initiatives, a father to 8 year old football loving Jude, a blood donation hero and an absolute asset to Banner.  

Introducing you to Emma Casey, a family and community focused member of the healthcare team, who is celebrating 15 years at Banner this year!

Emma has been with Banner now for just short of 15 years. She moved from Manchester to West Yorkshire, to start within the Banner health team, before moving to manage local authorities and government in 2007. Emma has been back in the healthcare team now for four years, working predominately with NHSSC and NHS Trusts, to ensure that Banner is offering the product profile required, whilst achieving savings and supporting customers to meet their environmental targets, via compliant frameworks.

After many months of virtual learning, UK pupils have headed back to the classroom with their peers and teachers to engage in person. Most schools have adopted new safety protocols to protect students and staff after the return to school, but there is still a daily threat which could threaten the health of these groups.

What is workspace satisfaction?

When something just does exactly what it’s supposed to do, perfectly. When it looks right, sounds right, feels right and works right. When the aesthetics, acoustics and functionality are rewarding in themselves. When you can’t quite explain it, but you know it feels good. 

In today’s new hybrid normal, business machines and solutions for workplace wellness and organisation have become even more important than ever. You can easily ensure that you can create a workspace setting which allows employees and colleagues to thrive whilst working in comfort. Banner is proud to partner with Fellowes to create workspace satisfaction. 

Below, we take a look at the main areas in which different solutions can be useful to ensure optimum satisfaction. 

Business machines

Shredders, laminators & binders give reliable performance and results 

The second member of our Healthcare Team we would like to introduce you to is Mark Airey.

Mark has been a Key Account Manager within the Banner NHS Healthcare Team for the past 4 years; previously holding various roles within Banner for over the past 15 years, in both Private and Public Sector where he has managed an array of Key Accounts and Frameworks.

Mark’s current role within the Healthcare Team is managing NHS accounts in the South West, CCG’s and CSU’s, as well as taking responsibility for managing the NHS Furniture Framework.

Global healthcare experts and virologists agree - airborne, aerosol transmission of viruses poses a significant threat.

A person can become infected through direct contact with a person or object carrying the virus or by air. 

Part of the answer is that, whilst we are programmed to clean surfaces and wash our hands, we tend to overlook something that’s more influential in causing illness: the air we breathe!  

Over the next few months, we will be introducing you to members of our Banner Healthcare team so that you can get to know us better.

The first member of our Healthcare team that we would like you to meet is Lesley Greenhalgh. Lesley has been with Banner for 10 years and worked for and with the NHS for more than 25, including three years in NHS procurement. Having managed Trusts, CCGs and other healthcare customers in the North and Midlands, now Lesley helps manage the NHS Supply Chain Office Solutions category for Banner. This involves working with the Crown Commercial Service team to ensure, amongst many other priorities, that the best possible service is provided to all customers and a full range of products across all the category frameworks are available.

As the UK's largest distributor of workplace supplies across several NHS Supply Chain frameworks for more than 25 years, UK owned and based Banner is delighted to be awarded on the new NHS Supply Chain Lighting, Tools and Facilities Management Consumables framework through Direct, Blue Diamond and eDirect supply routes.

This new framework offers customers, especially those in estates and facilities, quick and easy access to Banner’s wide-ranging Premises and Maintenance category, both stocked and through Banner’s extensive supplier partnerships, and will enable them to work with their existing contacts at Banner and order even more of their requirements through a compliant framework alongside other workplace supplies.

Brother knows what it's like to work in healthcare and how to come up with solutions to help healthcare professionals get the job done.

Brother products integrate with all main clinical software programmes, straight out of the box, meaning less time spent on IT and more time focused on patient care.

Whether it be pharmacy, primary or secondary healthcare, in a time where budgets are forever under pressure, the efficiency and effectiveness of technology is key to making savings alongside improvements in healthcare levels. Brother are the only vendor who fulfils, print, label, and scan solutions from bedside to office and back, giving frontline staff the tools they need to make sure they’re delivering the best levels of care.