Daresbury Office Closure Supports Local Communities

Following the closure of Telefónica Tech’s Daresbury office in Cheshire, colleagues across the business took the opportunity to ensure spare equipment could continue to deliver value elsewhere.

Rather than sending usable items for disposal or recycling, the team explored where furniture, gym equipment and office supplies could be donated to local organisations and community groups. The initiative helped reduce waste, limit environmental impact and lower disposal costs, while supporting charities and organisations with equipment they could put to immediate use.

Several colleagues were involved in the physical closure of the office, including Paul Bradley, Kyle Taylor and Jeremy Parker. Their support helped ensure equipment from the site could be identified, organised and shared with organisations where it could make a meaningful difference.

One of the organisations to benefit was MentalMate in Sheffield, a charity founded in 2020 by Telefónica Tech employee Dan Barton, Unified Comms Platform Architect. MentalMate helps people in the Sheffield area use boxing as a way to talk openly about mental illness and support their wellbeing.

Through the Daresbury office closure, Dan and the team were able to reuse a number of items from the office gym, including dumbbells, medicine balls, yoga mats and a mini freezer. Both Richard and Dan, who volunteer at the venue, were pleased to increase the equipment available for their classes, despite the charity’s limited space.

Inspired Martial Arts & Hitlab in Huntingdon also benefited from the initiative. Neal McQuade, Maintenance Engineer at the Huntingdon office, recently joined the volunteering team at the new gym, which provides martial arts and boxing facilities to the local community. The gym opened in October 2025 on the same business estate as Telefónica Tech’s Huntingdon office.

Neal travelled to Daresbury to collect free weights, lifting rigs and floor matting that would otherwise have been disposed of. The equipment is now being reused to support the new facility and the local people who use it.

Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham also received equipment from the Daresbury office. The hospice is a well-known charity across Cheshire, North Wales and Shropshire, providing palliative care and rehabilitation to patients and their families at no cost.

After being contacted about the available equipment, the hospice was able to collect a range of items for its gym facilities and offices. With support from Kyle Taylor, the team loaded larger gym equipment, including a rowing machine and ski machine, along with office furniture such as desks, chairs, display cabinets, bookshelves and around 20 computer monitors that had originally been destined for recycling.

A small number of additional items were also donated to Sandymoor Ormiston Academy in Runcorn and Grappenhall Ex-Servicemens Club CIC in Warrington.

The project demonstrates how operational change can be used to create positive community impact. By identifying where equipment was no longer needed by the business, Telefónica Tech UK&I was able to support local organisations, reduce unnecessary waste and give valuable resources a second life.