Evans Trading Latest News - Recent Clearances and Stock Updates

1. On the subject of deliveries, our crew has been working non-stop throughout this month. With orders coming in from businesses and individuals needing first quality office equipment stock has literally been flying out of the doors. It is great to see the team being kept so busy with a schedule of local and national deliveries.

2. It is also great to see that another national company has signed up with us for their office clearances, restructures and removals. This should provide us with even more high quality office furniture to re-home and recycle.

3. They say that charity begins at home, so it was rewarding to be able to donate 150 storage cabinets to benefit a local charity helping schools to get the resources they need.

1. Spring is here at last, and what better time for some spring cleaning? Having been so busy for so long withj the main job of recycling and delivering first class office furniture to businesses and work from home operatives, mundane tasks like housekeeping can be missed. The shop and warehouse were gone through with a fine-tooth comb, making sure not only that everything was in its correct place, but more importantly, that every piece of recycled office firniture was complete and in A1 condition. Anything not meeting the standard was ethically recycled to minimise environmental impact. Well, we are a recycleing company after all, so everything is done strictly by the book

2. It is a good job that the massive housekeeping and clearout were achieved in double quick time as this month also saw us engaged in a massive office clearance. The items from that are rapidly being prepared for sale and filling up the spaces created by clearing out at the beginning of the month. Much of this will be winging its way to new homes via our very popular nationwide free delivery service.

1. If March was all about our customers, April has been a good time to focus on ourselves, what is important in business and how that can be brought to bear on customer benefits.

• First and foremost, our responsible disposal policy underpins all that we do. 100% of items from clearances are either sold for re-use or broken down for ethical recycling. This is good for everyone, customers, clearance clients and the country as a whole. Nothing is burned, nothing goes to landfill.
• Offering free delivery makes life easier for customers and by planning routes carefully, can help the environment as one round trip in the van, making multiple drops can be much more energy efficient than having customers make numerous individual trips to and from our premises.
• Offering the widest possible variety is vitally important in the aim to make customers happy. We want everyone to be 100% pleased with their purchase, although sometimes, after big clearances, it takes a while to catalogue all the items on our website, so if you can't see what you need in our online shop just give us a call. We may well have just the thing waiting for its details to be uploaded.

1. As the financial year draws to a close, along with the VAT quarter for many customers, it was a good time to make a push for those last-minute sales. A number of prices on key items of office furniture were reduced to stimulate purchases. Also, throughout the month, email campaigns were mounted to update both existing customers and potential new ones on the latest items to come into stock as well as the great seasonal deals available. Overall, this seems to have had the desired effect, bringing in satisfactory levels of returning customers and a smattering of new faces. In line with our overall strategy of 'playing the long game', aiming to turn customers into advocates by making their purchasing experience truly exceptional, the rfesults were very satisfying.

2. In terms of clearances, the flavour of March was very much meeting and conference room furniture. A couple of highlights are these leather swivel chairs, selling for £150 +VAT as opposed to over £650 each new, and this fabulous high end Vitra table, selling at a fraction of its new cost.

1. From the start of this month, it is apparent the the confidence and momentum that began to show last month, is continuing to strengthen. Slowly but surely, the number of customers investing in their business furniture is growing. That is always a good sign. Likewise a good number of clearances have been pre-booked for the next few months, making it look like there is a crazy busy time ahead of us.

2. It was very pleasing in February to see the number of customers coming back for more increasing. It is an old but very true saying that it is easier to keep a customer than find a new one. All it takes is providing goods and services that meet or exceed their expectations, do what you say you will do in terms of prices, delivery and after care, then add that x-factor that makes them feel good about the business they do with you. Huge thanks to all the customers who give us their vote by returning for additional requirements time and time again.

3. Clearanaces of all kinds have their own special attractions for us. For example, in the coming month or so, we have a lot of small clearances bookes. These are great as they offer variety in locations, the nature of items cleared and the people that we meet in the process. Having said that, everyone in our team relishes the challenge of a huge clearance against a tight deadline. Not only do these jobs really test our mettle while providing a good source of income, but they also provide a built in exercise programme. One team member clocked up 20,000 steps on his smart watch in just one day. Every one's a winner!

1. January is very often a slow month for us both in terms of sales and clearances. This post-election year, with confidence low in all markets, it was expected to be worse than usual. However, we could see the potential for improvements in the overall mood when Donald Trump came back into the Whitehouse. To make sure there was enough variety and volume of stock for all, levels were kept deliberately high. Our confidence was justified. From the 10th onwards, there was a noticeable increase in sales and online enquiries, as well as requests for clearances. Anumber of the clearance enquiries have already turned into orders, so it looks like spring will be a busy time.

2. Meanwhile, recycling from the recent office clearance in Borehamwood continues. The items are all dated, so perhaps not as popular with the regular recycling market as newer furniture, but the owner has wisely decided to extend the timescale for re-distrbibution to prevent unnecessary landfill. In itself, this has been a challenge but by taking a slightly unconventional approach, quite a large number of items are now headed for charitable, and other inadequately funded organisations in Africa, thus helping out some good causes. To paraphrase the old saying... There's many a good deal made over an old desk.

3. One piece of sad news today is that one of our team has decided to leave us. Naturally, we wish him all the best in his new career and offer a big thank you for all his consistent efforts within the team. There are no immediate plans for a replacement as with a little planning, we can absorb the workload within the existing staff. Additionally, it will keep costs down, helping us to keep our prices as competitive as customers have come to expect.

1. With a massive thank you to all our customers from multi-national corporations clearing out hundreds of offices to the army of people who find themselves working from home more and need a comfortable, supportive chair, we are pleased to see that for the 15th year in succession, our business has grown. We will be working even harder to make yet more customers happy through 2025.

2. With a welcome break in the weather giving us a few mild, sunny days in Ipswich, we took the opportunity to re-decorate the shop's lobby area. Not only will this give customers arriving at the shop a brighter, more cheerful welcome than ever, but as this area is used for photographing all the new stock that comes in, you will see brighter, clearer photographs on our web site too.

3. Thanks to all the large office clearances this year, 2025 sees us starting the year with more stock than ever. This in turn offers a wider, brighter choice for our customers and mor choice. There has never been a better time to save money on your office furniture, choosing high quality chairs, desks, storage/filing units and much more.

4. Offering our customers free delivery throughout England seems to be popular, with orders for office furniture now coming in from a wider than ever area. This is great news for all concerned as by being able to combine orders in adjoining areas, it makes it more economical for us to offer the service and cuts down on lead times for our customers. Everyone wins.

1. November was a very exciting month for us. At the beginning of the month, with a very tight deadline our customer called on us to carry out one of the largest clearances yet. To completely empty their several storeys, containing thousands of items including canteen equipment, furniture and even coffee machines. Luckily we were granted 24 hour access so were able to get the team working double shifts and cleared the huge building well within the allotted time, leaving our customer very happy and the building ready for the incoming tenant.

2. Even though there was one extremely large clearance to complete, the time of year running up to Christmas is always our busiest. It's thanks to our team of hardworking and flexible individuals whose efforts have been tireless, that the massive workload was cleared with all projects completed on time and within budget. We take great pride in the fact that we have never let anyone down in all our years of office clearances.

3. The importance of office clearances being on time: Not everyone knows this but at the end of an office lease in any of our cities, but particularly so in London, not clearing all furniture before the final date constitutes a breach of lease agreement. The penalties for this are drastic and punitive, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines for the outgoing tenant. This is a huge responsibility and one that we take very seriously. To this day, after 34 years of trading, we are enormously proud to say that we have never let anyone down.

1. Booths and pods were very much a topic of conversation here this month. The early part of October saw us engaged in an office clearance with more booths than we had ever seen before. In a big office, the use of booths is becoming increasingly popular to give workers a private space for conversation or calls without the background hubub of busy colleagues and visitors. With efficient acoustic insulation, booths and pods don't take up much space while they are providing islands of calm, stress free environment which promote efficiendy and clarity of thought and communication. As an added bonus, they also look very chich in the process.

2. Talking of fashionable and trendy items, despite the seriously practical nature of office furniture, it really pays to keep up with trends in the market. There will always be a need for plain, unobtrusive styles, which neither excite nor offent, but furniture with classic lines, modern, funky looks and bright, stimulating colours can also have a big positive effect on morale and attitudes in the workplace. Offices should be places where businesses and their people thrive, rather than merely survive.

This reflects in the layout of our showrooms, where we encourage customers to come and visit, try furniture on for size and envisage how it will look in their workplace. Choosing the right furniture is of vital importance and yes, 100% of our stock is available to buy online but there is nothing better than feeling the vibe when buying in person.

3. There are fireworks ahead! Having just had confirmation of two massive clearances both starting on November 5th, this is going to be an incredibly busy month for us. Not to use too many awful puns, we must stress that we are the guys to call when you want a cracker of a job done, turning any office into a real sparkler on or around bonfire night... I'll get my coat!

1. Having plenty of great quality office furniture in stock for our customers is vitally important in making sure that everyone leaves happy. That isn't just in terms of the number of items either, but keeping the widest possible variety of chairs, desks and storage solutions helps to achieve this. Managing storage space is one of the key elements in our success, displaying the greatest possible variety of items in our available space without making anywhere feel cramped or overcrowded takes a good deal of planning and effort. It is gratifying to see sales of used office furniture grow to their hightest level for this time of year, so we must be doing something right. We will continue to maintain high stock levels and great variety, keeping the space filled with all our customers need.

2. In line with this policy, this month saw a massive influx of office furniture thanks to completing one of the biggest clearances we have ever been called upon to manage. In phases from the beginning of July, through to a tight deadline at the end of September, the job was completed with a little time to spare. In this case the deadline was vital as each floor cleared was already allocated to new tenants. We had been recommended by another facilities in the banking sector who stressed our commitment to completing all clearances on time and within budget. It always feels good to get a word of mouth recommendation.

1. Now it is the height of summer and schools/colleges have all closed down, it would be easy to think that our workload backs right off for the season. This couldn't be further from the truth. In the real world, furniture in educational establishments probably has a harder time than that in many commercial establishments. This window of opportunity to 'lick the wounds', repairing, replacing and re-organising represents a highly intensive periood of activity. This counts not only for the establishments themselves but also, their suppliers... such as ourselves. So, please don't worry about us, we won't be bored ove the Summer holiday!

2. Likewise, this month can be very busy with clearances. With staff on holiday, it is muuch simpler to clear and rearrange workspaces. One job this month involved clearing over 3000 office items and it is a matter of great pride for usp to be able to say that everything was re-used, leaving not a single item behind.

3. As well as with personal callers, we seem to be doing something right online too. While very few people get 1,000,000 visitors online to their website, we are very happy to say that our online shop is now approaching its 2,000,000th visitor. Huge thanks to all the customers, both online and face to face who have made all this happen. We will continue to work hard at making the variety of items interesting and the content engaging so there is always something new for returning visitors.

1. When you want things to look their best, trust the professionals. As summer is now in full swing, daylight is at its strongest, which shows up every speck of dust missed by our fairly festidious daily vacuum and polish of the three storey showroom. In order to maintain the highest possible standard of visitor experience on our premises, this month a local professional commercial cleaning firm to give the place a thorough inside and out freshen up. Working in a lovely, fresh environment is much nicer for us and we hope, much nicer for our customers too when they visit.

2. Just in case anyone has forgotten, small businesses of 5 people or less, account for over 50% of Britain's GDP. They really do keep the country running. Despite that, it is very tough for small busuinesses to keep running. Getting the best value out of every pound that comes in is vital.That is why it is so gratifying for us to see new startup businesses coming to us, as well as the many small business people who keep on coming back, referring their friends or opening 2nd offices. It is always our aim to offer great value to all, and it looks like we must be doing something right.

3. As an aside to benefitting businesses of all sizes by offering great value on all manner of office furniture items, an aspect of our work that sometimes people overlook is the ecological impact of recycling office furniture. As well as selling locally for re-use, a great deal of stock is distributed by our vast network of traders in different industries worldwide who help to make sure the greatest possible number of items go for re-use. This keeps thousands of tonnes out of landfill sites where it would otherwise end up.

1. Going back to the large end of the clearances scale, this month sees the arrival of a commission from Airbus to clear hundreds of items from their research centre. It was satisfying to know this selection was made largely because the people there liked our history and reacted very positively to our proposal. This style of commission looks very good on our CV and that can always help open more doors in the future.

2. For some reason, the sale of stools had been very slow of late. In order to address this, June was a month for a 'Stool Sale' with reduced prices on all. This measure turned out to be a good success, so the reduced prices on stools have been kept on indefinitely.

3. If it works for stools, why not for other items? The success of the price reduction spurred us on to check that the rest of our prices are the best value on the market. Satisfyingly, only a few needed changing, and with the free delivery all our customers enjoy, it really is a win-win situation.

4. Another currently satisfying trend is the volume of sales that we are making to schools. They are always struggling to make the most of their budgets, so anything that can be purchased at a saving is welcome to them. The majority of our school customers are local at the moment but word is starting to get round and the delivery radius is gradually growing.

1. The first week in May was quiet, so we took advantage of the time to carry out a full stock check. This was a major undertaking but it helped a lot with peace of mind. It is much easier to make sure that customers are happy by having the right choice for them, and by using a stock check to weed out any inventory errors, we are allowed to relax and get on with the job. This is particularly important in our online shop where only 100% accuracy will do.

2. Perhaps it was the bad weather in week 2 of May that brought customers in or focused their attention on matters of work rather than relaxing in the sun, but for face to face sales, it was a bumper week. It was great to see so many people from all walks of life finding the perfect office furniture for their businesses and homes. Also, the variety of items purchased was tremendous, vindicating our policy of keeping a huge choice of items in stock at all times.

3. The second half of May saw an increase in the number of small to medium clearances we were called upon to perform. In many ways, these can be preferable to the bigger clearances. Although the number of items in each case is smaller, they bring more variety to our range for recycling, make collections more interesting for us all, travelling to new places and meeting new people. Best of all, the new people that we meet extend our business network, potentially bringing other new contacts and opportunities for the future.

1. Having a quiet period in the shop isn't always a bad thing. It can give time to make sure that the standard of presentation expected by our customers is exceeded in every way, ensuring that the viewing and purchasing experiences are pleasant as well as offering great choice and value in office furniture.

This included making access to all items as clear as possible, removing every distracting item that was serving no purpose. That cull took care of odd fasteners, shelves and lengths of cable trunking that were serving no purpose, making sure that the progress of items in and out was as unimpeded as possible.

This also gave us the chance to make sure that every item of stock is offered for sale via our website, so that even if you can't make it to the shop, you can enjoy the same quality, choice and value as if you were there.

2. If the shop has been quiet in April, bookings for clearances have been anything but. The next couple of months will see us being very busy clearing offices for long standing clients as well as some exciting new ones. As always, this is going to give a healthy boost to the selection of top quality office furnishings to our customers online and personal visitors to the shop. We will look forward to welcoming you to either.

1. With the ever increasing number of customers comes an increasing level of delivery activity. Efficiency in this area is vital for customer satisfaction, after all, office furniture is a necessity for comfortable working so speedy delivery keeps our customers on the go with least disruption and delay. It is this commitment to service that keeps people coming back as their needs evolve.

2. It is a matter of pride to us that our deliveries are not only prompt but are also free. The key to this is efficient route planning and vehicle deployment. As an example, there has been an increase in local customers making purchases for short run delivery. By adding a new, smaller van to the fleet, these can now be covered readily, leaving the larger vehicles for longer runs and multi-site drops.

Of course, Marco Polo doesn't work for us so we rely on Google Maps to help with making the route plans. Other online mapping services are available.

3. Seeing March draw to a close, the figures show that this has been yet another record breaking quarter. In respect of this we have to thank our customers for choosing to buy from us, and our superb team for maintaining the highest work ethic and readiness to go the extra mile to keep clients happy.

1. This month sees another valuable addition to the personnel here. A regular business partner with whom we have had many years of successful collaboration has decided to retire from his retail activities and will be working with us full time on office clearances. The great news for our customers is that with a highly experienced and dedicated new pair of hands joining in, we will be able to complete even more clearances, which will expand not only the volume of stock available, but will also help to broaden the choice even more.

2. To make an even bigger impact on the choice and the range of office furniture you will find here, massive effort has gone into emptying our colleagues' warehouses, bringing the entire range under one umbrella. So far, in the first month, this has increased our stockholding by 10% and will put us on course to double the number of clearances carried out each year.

3. And finally... with the massive growth in stock, choice and value, along with the areas of operation growing, introducing new customers, more space has become a necessity. The next step in this programme of expansion is the opening of shop number two, watch this space for developments and all the news as it breaks.

1. This year got off to a very busy start with a nationwide clearance programme for a major client, which took our team to a huge number of their branches in many different towns and cities, each with its own deadlines and challenges. This kind of variety adds immensely to the enjoyment we get from the job of clearing, moving and re-structuring offices, meeting all sorts of characters along the way.

The great thing about such massive clearance operations is that all the items cleared are brought back to our Ipswich shop for re-sale. This means that there is a great consistency throughout our range, giving customers confidence in being able to place additional orders in future, knowing that the new items will match what they have purchased before.

2. Ostensibly for the kids, but just as enjoyable for us 'adults', the kitchen here has been converted into a Lego and Collectibles build and display room. There is a wide choice of absorbing and creative activity to engage the young mind. If they would rather enjoy passive entertainment or listen to music, there is now a large screen TV installed with YouTube playing.

1. Almost as if to prove there is nothing so certain as uncertainty, the period normally busiest for office clearances, October through December, which can normally be expected to bring about two or three major projects. October and November were extremely quiet, leaving us all wondering what was going on. Then, in mid December, quite out of the blue, there was a veritable explosion of clearances to be dealt with. In over 30 years, nobody here had seen such a violent change. Luckily, with a highly experienced team, well used to performing miracles against tight deadlines, all the clearances were completed on time.

2. This extremely busy period is great news if you are looking for office furniture. The year of 2024 is going to start with a huge range of high quality desks, office chairs, boardroom furniture and office storage ready for immediate delivery.

3. In the meantime, it is a chance for all of us to take a few days off to celebrate and relax, ready to spring forward into the new year with vigour and enthusiasm. May we take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful new year.