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Written by The McCarthy's Team on January 11, 2019

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The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed an article from our MD Mike in the Yorkshire Post earlier this week. Mike was giving his top tips to businesses on how to organise your office in the New Year.

There’s something about the start of a New Year that does make you want a fresh start and a clear head – and you know what they say about a tidy desk being a tidy mind! Perhaps it’s after all the busyness and clutter of Christmas, it feels nice to pack it all away and feel like there’s a bit more room to breath – both at home and at work!

So, if you’re embracing the new year, new start ethos and are planning a workplace clear out, here is the advice from Mike:

• Make everyone take responsibility for certain areas of the office – getting everyone involved is key. If you’re clearing up, and someone else is still creating additional mess, you’re only going to get frustrated.  
• Be ruthless – but be mindful of any legal, regulatory or financial requirement to keep hold of certain documentation. Double check if in doubt.
• Make sure GDPR is front of mind – does paperwork you’re throwing away contain personal details of customers, clients or colleagues? If you’re in doubt make sure the documents are properly destroyed before disposing of them. The best way to get rid of paperwork in bulk is by using an external shredding service. At McCarthy’s Safe Shred, we come to your office and take it all away to be shredded in a secure warehouse. We can place a lockable bin in your office to make it easy for everyone to separate documents which need to be shredded, which we then remove on a regular basis – or we can provide one off jobs. We’ll provide you with a certificate of destruction, and the waste gets sent to UK recycling sites to start a new life – without any worry of data theft.
• If there are any electronic items which you need to get rid of, they will also require a specialist IT shredding company to wipe and dispose of them. It’s not enough to delete the data, as someone may still be able to access it. At McCarthy’s we can wipe hard drives, laptops, USBs, DVDs and, and then dispose of them securely in accordance with the WEEE Directive.
• If you seem to be running out of space, but an office move isn’t on the table in the short term, consider self storage. At McCarthy’s Storage World, units of varying sizes can be hired and often accessed 24-hours a day if needed, and we have locations in Wakefield, Leeds and Harrogate. There’s plenty of free parking and everything is kept safe and secure – only you have access to your items. Prices are much more reasonable than business rents per square footage, so it’s pointless using valuable space office space for items you don’t need day-to-day. First to go in there? The Christmas decorations!
• If you have paperwork you need to hold on to, but don’t need to access frequently, consider using an external document management service like McCarthy’s. We safely store paperwork in barcoded boxes in an external warehouse which can be retrieved instantly if needed. You don’t have any of the worry of whether you can find what you need, and instantly gain much needed office space back.
• For paperwork which needs to be kept for a specific period of time, consider our archive service with automatic shredding on a given date. This takes any stress away from you, and the documentation can be destroyed on a defined date, even several years in the future.
• When getting rid of anything, consider your environmental responsibilities. You may be asked for proof of recycling if you plan on going for future accreditations or awards. When it comes to furniture or products, could a charity benefit from them?

If we can help with any of your office organisation (although, we draw the line at clearing the shared fridge out) – we’re only a phone call away! And if, even after a good clear out, you’re still bursting at the seams of your office, maybe it’s time for a move. And if it is, we know a great business removal company who can help get you safely to your new premises!