Did you know our Reuse Consortium holds a contract with Scotland Excel to provide quality reuse furniture to Public Sector organisations?
Six local authorities in Scotland use the Reuse Consortium to supply furniture to their properties, mostly through the Social Welfare Fund.
Our Reuse Consortium Coordinator Rhoda spoke to Social Welfare Fund Lead Officer Kimberly Farnley at Fife Council about why buying through the Consortium works so well for authorities.
Take a look at some of Kimberley’s reflections below:
Budgetary benefits – re-use items provide the rare opportunity for us to provide our customers with quality well-made items at a lower cost than buying new. Often white goods are from high end brands and buying from the Consortium gives us the ability to obtain these trusted well-made products at a lower price point. This is a benefit to us and allows us to make savings in our budget and enable the provision of more grants awarded from the fund.
Environmental Impact – Using re-use items allows us to play our part in the council’s wider commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, preventing good working items being taken to landfill. All of the items come with a warranty from the enterprise, but with a lot of the items being made by high end brands – it does mean for the customer they have peace of mind that should they need a repair or spare part in the future, these are more likely to be easily obtained or an easy fix through a local repair person as parts for well-known brands are more readily available.
Customer Service – It is our experience that using smaller local enterprises offers the benefit of a more enhanced customer care experience. The service is more personalised and adapted to the needs of the service partner. When opportunities arise to improve service delivery or resolve a concern, the service feels more personal and often a named person takes responsibility to allow 1-1 contact to ensure effective, efficient, and excellent resolution. The service is more focussed and tailored in local enterprises to meet the required demands. It also improves our customers confidence in the service as they often know of the enterprises and are familiar with them, knowing who to contact if necessary. This works well for us and our customers.
Economic Impact – Utilising social enterprises allows us to contribute to our local communities by using national funds to purchase goods and services at local level, spending our fund where it can make a real difference; hopefully resulting in employment opportunities and keeping local enterprises in business. Local enterprise employment opportunities are an integral part of sustainable communities and ensuring there are employment opportunities for all (varying skills, knowledge, and abilities). Sustainable, working communities attract more investment opportunities and enterprise.
Thank you Kimberly for taking time to share Fife Council’s experience.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Reuse Consortium, contact Rhoda at rhoda@circularcommunities.scot.