Refurbished Tech, WFH and Hybrid: How Much Could Your Business Save?

With the ‘new normal’ now firmly settling into place, more and more business owners are looking at options like remote and hybrid working as ways to not only keep employees happy, but also to save money. Alongside this, we know that with carbon neutrality and wider sustainable business practices on many people’s minds, there’s also a growing interest in switching to refurbished workplace tech as both a money saver and a planet saver.

The question is, what are the specific savings to be made?

We’ve crunched the numbers and found that by switching to remote or hybrid working and using refurbished tech rather than new, businesses could save 46% of their IT budget and between £15,074 and £36,333.15 a year on office rent, waste, and energy - amounting to up to £88,000 in savings for an SMB typically turning over £5million a year.

Keep reading to find out how these savings can help your business.

Costs of New vs Refurbished Tech

The ever-evolving demands of the modern workplace can put a strain on our devices: the need for up-to-date business tools and software requires high quality equipment, resulting in the need to upgrade hardware. It is no secret that this can be a costly affair for businesses. In 2022, tech budgets are expected to grow by 51%, with the main reason being cited being the need for upgrading outdated IT infrastructure

With all the need for staying up to date with tech demands, many businesses opt for refurbished products.

“Buying refurb devices saved my company at least 60% of our allocated funds. After an in-depth analysis, we opted for refurb tech due to its cost-effectiveness. As long as its condition will allow for three to five years of service life, it is a great way to save money and the environment.“ 
Robert Johnson, Founder, Sawinery

Depending on the model and grading of the device you are looking for, you can make massive savings when buying refurbished. Looking at the most popular business laptop models below, we see an average of 46% decrease in price for refurbished devices. To set a benchmark, companies in the Financial Services sector in the UK spend between 4.4% – 11.4% of their annual revenue on IT*, of which around 20% can be estimated to be spent on devices. 

This means that a company with an annual revenue of £5million spends between £44,000 and £114,000 per year on new devices. Buying refurbished could save such a company between £20,240 and £52,400 a year – enough to pay for one, or even two, new members of staff.

Make & Model	New Price	Refurbished Price	£ Saving	% saving
Apple MacBook Pro M1 (2020)	£1,299.00	£999.99	£299.01	23%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano	£1,899.99	£1,447.49	£452.50	24%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9	£2,132.00	£1,642.99	£489.01	23%
Dell XPS 15 (9570)	£1,849.00	£759.00	£1,090.00	59%
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga Gen 4	£2,499.00	£899.99	£1,599.01	64%
Apple Macbook Air M1 (8GB/256GB SSD)	£999.00	£779.99	£199.01	20%
Apple Macbook Air M1 (8GB/512GB SSD)	£1249	£829.99	£419.01	34%
Dell XPS 15 (2020)	£1,798.99	£759.00	£1,039.99	58%
HP EliteBook	£1,438.80	£479.98	£958.82	67%
Dell Latitude 9420	£3,020.30	£1,220.00	£1,800.30	60%
AVERAGE SAVING				46%

Even when you’re looking at device level, great savings can be made. For example, a Macbook Air M1 (512GB) can be 20% cheaper if you buy refurbished. Buying refurbished can also mean you’re able to afford a higher spec machine for the same budget. For example, Apple iMac (256GB, 3.1GHz 6-Core) new vs Apple iMac (512GB, 3.8GHz 8-Core) refurbished are a similar price. For the same budget, you can get a machine with a better processor and more memory. This means a more efficient machine for your staff.

Buying refurbished does not mean you have to compromise on quality. Refurbished tech can be just as good as new, but you need to be able to trust your reseller. When buying from a trusted reseller, the device may have some minor scratches but will generally be as good as new. If you buy directly from the past owner or from a less trustworthy reseller, the device could have a shorter lifespan or could come without warranty.

Massive savings are not the only reason businesses opt for buying refurbished, many cite its reduced carbon footprint. Using Apple’s own data, up to 84% of a device's carbon footprint is generated in the initial production and transport. Buying refurbished extends the life of each product and bypasses these initial production and transportation completely.  It’s better to repair and re-use than perfectly good tech ending up in landfill.

Costs of Hybrid, Remote and In-Office Working

Modern work has seen significant shifts post-pandemic, with almost all of the biggest firms choosing not to bring staff back to the office full-time. A report by One Advanced finds that while 70% of employees surveyed want to return to the office, only 6% want to do this on a full-time basis.

The below cost comparison is based on a business with 10 employees based in London, taking in account the average office rent per square feet. The in-office option assumes they need at least a 450 square foot office, while the hybrid office is a 50% capacity (5 employees are able to work from the office at a time), assuming they would need at least 270 square feet.

Committed Spend	In-Office	Hybrid	WFH
Office Rent	£33,075	£19,845	£0
Energy	£3,064	£1,300	£0
Waste Collection	£194.15	£114.15	£0
Employee Health Spend (e.g ergonomic chairs)	£1,500	£1,500	£1,500
AVERAGE	£37,833.15	£22,759.15	£1,500

This shows that small to medium-sized businesses could save £15,074 a year by switching to a hybrid wfh/office model and downsizing their office space, and a staggering £36,333 by switching to fully remote.

“Like many businesses, we switched to a fully remote work model during the pandemic.  We've since adjusted and are now running a hybrid work model that is working well.  We had a small office space to begin with, so we made the decision to keep it with the idea that it will still serve us well when we expand since we can incorporate a hybrid work model instead of renting a larger office space. "
James Green, Owner, Build A Head

The most cost-effective tactics

A company with an annual revenue of £5million who switches from buying new equipment and working in the office full-time to buying refurb tech and adopting a hybrid working model, can save over £75,000 a year. This amount could pay for the wages of 3 new employees.

Alternatively, it could pay to give 35 employees ergonomic chairs, adjustable standing desks, ergonomic keyboard and mouse, headphones, full Adobe software licenses, and an employee health cashback plan**.

For a business switching to a fully remote model, the savings would be over £88,000 a year.

With figures like that, it is hard to argue against making the switch to buying refurbished, just as it’s becoming difficult for employers to find any reason not to offer remote and hybrid working environments.

Explore our range of refurbished MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac Minis and iPads today.

*https://www.netstar.co.uk/it-budget-2021/ 
** Based on a budget of £2,082 per person.