Jobs saved at under-threat local furniture company after buyout
JOBS have been saved at an under-threat Ayrshire furniture firm after it was bought out by an Edinburgh company.
The Bureau Group now says it hopes to take on new staff – including apprentices – in future, in addition to saving the jobs of the five staff currently working at second-hand office furniture firm 2ndhnd Ltd in Dundonald.
The acquisition comes just a few weeks after the local company – which specialises in refurbishing and reselling office furniture manufactured by high-end brands – was placed into administration.
Andy Russell, managing director at Bureau Group, said: “This is huge – it’s exactly in line with our trajectory as a sustainable and design-led business.
“Our purpose is to help support companies to be as sustainable as possible, by embedding circularity within every business decision.
“The conversation around the circular economy and commercial furniture has been getting louder for some time, but the thing that makes it possible doesn’t exist in a serious way.
“Nobody is doing this on a mass scale until now.
“This acquisition means we can create a genuine opportunity for firms to make a different decision on the way they buy furniture that is more cost effective and also helps to save the planet.
“A sustainable approach to procurement that prevents FF&E [furniture, fixtures and equipment] going to landfill is one of, if not the,
“Our purpose is to help support companies to be as sustainable as possible” biggest decision a company can make to realise their sustainability ambitions and responsibilities.
“Our role is to help them deliver that, and the creation of this facility and marketplace is a massive leap on our road towards it.”
Shona Campbell, Lee Green and Andrew Kelsall were appointed as joint administrators of 2ndhnd Ltd on October 17.
Jennifer Russell, co-founder and group operations director at Bureau Group, said: “We see huge value in this market, and are pleased to rescue the industry-leading skills and experience here in Scotland and add it to our offering as part of our plans to build a stable market.
“Our ambition is to create a remanufacturing facility where we are training people up and developing skills that would otherwise be lost.
“The demand for these services will not diminish and that makes the sector and marketplace sustainable in itself.
“Much like the lifecycle of a chair, we want to invest in the life cycle of these skills and ensure they are passed from generation to generation.”
Bureau Group also has branches in Glasgow, London and US tech hub Seattle.
Andy Russell, Bureau