Page 7 - BOSS Today Issue 53

BOSS Today #53

desk before you start using it and after quite important. With more Zoom and “What we are now
you’ve finished work, especially if you MS Teams calls going on in the office,
are hot desking.” Indeed, Paul Hardy, headsets are now much more acceptable seeing with the return
European Brand Director at computer and more widely used. It’s also more to the workplace is
cleaning specialists AF International acceptable now for people to listen
confirms that “we’re selling just as many to music while they’re working in the Facilities Managers
antibacterial screen cleaning wipes this office.”
year as we did last year - and we sold a looking to ensure that
lot last year. Too many to count, in fact. their workplace is safe.”
When you’re at home you don’t mind
your own grime, but when you’re in an
office you are in a shared facility where Jeremy Cooper, Fellowes UK
items really do need to be cleaned, and
people are much more conscious now
about the need for hygiene.” Trend 3: Returning to the
The need to make the office a safer office is restoring demand for
place to return to has also resulted in some office products
a growth in physical infection control A noticeable trend that indicates that
products such as distancing screens - at least some kind of ‘normal’ office
panels placed between people to prevent working is returning is the uptick in
them sneezing into each other’s faces - demand for some ‘traditional’ office
as well as some innovation working products, such as corporate
As Wells explains, ACCO has also office shredders, binders and
launched a monitor stand product with laminators. Explains Nice, “We’ve seen
a UV disinfection capability: “It has a a huge increase in sales of things like
compartment where the user can put laminators, where people are putting
their desktop accessories, and at the wipeable notices and signs up to advise
push of a button it will disinfect them. and instruct visitors and staff. Visitor
We’ve also launched some products - like management products such as badges
mice and keyboards - that are washable are also coming back, having seen little
under the tap, so they are clean, safe and demand during COVID.”
ready for the next person to use.”
In addition, there is now a focus on
air quality, as Cooper reports: “What we
are now seeing with the return to the
workplace is Facilities Managers looking
to ensure that their workplace is safe.
Sales of our AeraMax Pro series - which
is our commercial air purifiers – are Trend 4: Making the home
increasing rapidly month or month and office a comfortable office
year on year.” Another trend is a continued boom in
demand for products that make working
at home both safe and comfortable, as
Wells explains: “Many people have seen
a lot of aches and pains as a result of not
having the right setup at home. Having
somewhere comfortable safe and clean
to work in the office was a given, but
Trend 2: We’re all when working at home we have to go out
videoconferencing now and provide a similar healthy working
Lockdown has taught us all how to environment for ourselves. So, we are
videoconference, and Nice is seeing developing products that help you to be
“a lot of people upgrade to better more comfortable in your home office
headsets, realising that noise control is environment which are very much in

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