Banner Blog

Lockdowns have forced companies to close their offices and enable their employees to work from home where, and as much as possible.

We all have a role to play in preventing the infection from spreading when workplaces reopen. Without an available vaccine or effective treatment, well-organised risk management is key to creating ‘COVID-safe’ work environments. One thing is clear: the office after coronavirus will look very different in many ways and managers need to prepare for ‘the new normal’.

If there was ever a time to take your workplace cleaning to the next level, it's now.

While keeping the work setting clean has always been important for employee health and preventing the spread of illness, this has taken on an extra level of significance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s likely that people pass Covid-19 to each other by either breathing in air-borne virus particles when someone coughs or sneezes, or by touching a surface that harbours these particles and then touching their face.

With respiratory viruses surviving on surfaces for anything from several hours to a few days, the thorough cleaning of surfaces and hands is essential for reducing the risk of contracting Covid-19 through touch. And as lockdown restrictions ease and workplaces prepare to welcome people back in bigger numbers, this is becoming even more pressing.

These hygiene measures will help to create a Covid-secure workplace:

Sustainable cleaning solutions and protecting the natural environment remain high on the agenda for Banner, a supplier on several public sector cleaning and janitorial frameworks. 

Discussions about how to better protect the natural environment have moved higher up the public agenda in recent years, but this issue has long been on Banner’s radar.

As one of the largest distributors of workplace products, with over 350 fleet vehicles making over 18,000 deliveries per day, Banner has a responsibility to operate responsibly.

One element of operating responsibly is a commitment from Banner to continually review their highly complex supply chain, which is the most significant part of their environmental footprint and social impact.

This commitment has led to the introduction of many environmentally and ethically sourced products in recent years. In fact, Banner currently offers over 3,000 products that are 50% recycled and has introduced many products that help customers to reduce single-use plastics in the workplace.

The current situation has seen an unprecedented number of employees working from home, including those who have rarely worked remotely before. 

The information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has signalled that it will take the current circumstances into account when considering enforcement action under GDPR.  However, the ICO will still expect employers to take appropriate action to protect information when working from home.

In 2019, only 30% of UK citizens were able to work from home*; but in a time when many of us must work from home, it can be harder to get into a new routine. 

When working from home it’s not always in the front of our mind to get up from our desks, to walk around, to stay hydrated or even to get food. We can lose track of time, forget to take regular breaks and become more focused and engrossed in our work and jobs without thinking. 

For some, there are also distractions in our home environment, everything from children to TV shows, our phones and social media channels can all have an impact on productivity, motivation and overall wellbeing. 

So how do you find a happy medium? 

Read our tips on how to ensure your working from home set up, is working for you. 

For many of us, our initial working from home set up may now need a re-think into a long-term solution.

Even a basic desk and chair may still not be a reality and the effects of working from the floor, sofa or bed are taking their toll.

Don’t let your new workstation hinder you, there are solutions to make most places in your house safe, comfortable, and inviting.  Here are our tips and top picks of the best products to suit many different home office locations.

The sun is shining, the air is heating up, and it's harder to concentrate when working. 

That's a familiar story for many of us when temperatures start to rise, and one that can take its toll on workplace efficiency.

One study of 600 office workers found that productivity dropped by around 20% when the weather got hotter, with projects taking 13% longer to complete and people becoming 45% more distracted.

Here are 5 tips to help you work smarter in the summer months: 

When it comes to printing it can be very confusing with lots of jargon and options to choose from.

Here’s our quick guide to help you understand the different types of professional printing and select the most suitable option for your next project.

Organisation is they key to ensuring things run smoothly, especially in fast paced office environments.

Labelling is a great organisational tool, from helping identify files and folders, creating visitor badges, tracking assets and making light work of large mailouts. Replacing handwritten labels with printed ones adds a certain level professionalism as well as making things easier for everybody. A truly effective labelling solution can improve efficiency, productivity and security letting you get back to focussing on getting the job done.

With over 30 years’ experience, Brother take the lead when it comes to labelling solutions. Here are four ways a labelling solution from Brother can help your business.

An increasing number of businesses are currently working on their digital transformation strategies to make their company more efficient, productive, and scalable.

And yet this approach regularly contradicts and pushes the boundaries for how many organisations operate in reality.

Managers carefully select the best talent by going through a lengthy recruitment process. Once they’ve hired the right candidate, they put them in an office environment where they are statistically interrupted every 11 minutes by endless ‘quick questions’. According to a UC Irvine study, it will then take an employee around 25 minutes to get back to the place they were at before the distraction.