Agile Café Space, Penallta House
In collaboration with Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind (MTIB) we are the preferred furniture suppliers to Caerphilly County Borough Council via the ‘Call off Contract for the Supply of Furniture Solutions from the Lot 3 NPS All Wales Collaborative Framework Agreement’. The contract is for 3 years with the option to extend for a further one year period.
This contract allows public sector organisations to benefit from working with Welsh manufacturers with social aims and with demonstrable expertise in remanufacturing and the circular economy.
We recently engaged with the facilities team at Caerphilly County Borough Council to refurbish their dining space at Penallta House in Tredomen to support new ways of working.
Agile working space
Since the pandemic, the majority of public sector staff have been working from home but will be encouraged to adapt a blended approach to working from both home and the workplace on a permanent basis in the future.
In order to facilitate this, the team at Caerphilly County Borough Council have introduced an “agile space” on the ground floor of their civic offices at Penallta House. This space has been designed to enable collaboration, touchdown working and informal meetings as well as providing a pleasant environment to spend lunch breaks with colleagues.
Give Back Scheme
Following completion of this project we donated a tree, in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy, in memory of those who have lost their lives during the COVID 19 pandemic. Our give back scheme offers a percentage of all our projects back to the client to allow them to plant oak trees in a location of their choosing within their county.
Circular Economy
We were able to reclaim existing furniture within the council’s stock to remanufacture lockers for the new agile space. We also provided comfortable soft seating areas, meeting booths, touchdown poseur tables and private corals for solo working.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has been shortlisted for Council of the Year at the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards 2021 due to all the innovative programs they have initiated, especially during the pandemic. We were invited to attend the opening of the Agile space in October 2021 when the LGC judges visited Penallta House.
Graham Hirst, MD at Ministry of Furniture and CEO of Ministry Group commented, “We are delighted to be working with Caerphilly County Borough Council alongside MTIB to support their circular economy agenda. We have a passion for remanufacturing and love working with organisations with similar visions. The remanufacturing of legacy furniture and tree planting scheme both demonstrate Caerphilly Council’s commitment to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and community benefits.”
Richard Welfoot CEO of The Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind (MTIB) stated, “MTIB are extremely pleased that Caerphilly CBC has recognised the sustainability and community benefits offered by our collaboration with Ministry of Furniture and have proactively utilised Lot 3 of the NPS to facilitate the award of contract.
Our staff and management team are excited at the opportunity, which will allow the development and diversification of our products and services to secure additional business, which will not only help sustain the jobs of our existing disabled workforce, but also provide further employment opportunities for local Welsh disabled and disadvantaged people throughout South Wales.”