EVERY year, office furniture is piled into skips, when a little communication could have found it a new home.

Waste management officer Daniel O’Connor saw this happen once too often, and set about developing a piece of software which helps companies pass on items like they do on eBay or Freecycle.

Warp-it launched three months ago as a subscription service with the help of Newcastle Science City’s business support team. The software – which was built by Creative Design in Gosforth – is already used by local authorities, universities, companies and charities.

O’Connor’s 10-year career in waste management has included spells with Scarborough and Durham County Councils. He says his great grandfather was a rag and bone man in Morpeth, so wonders if there’s something in the blood.

The businessman, of Blagdon, Northumberland, said: “I noticed that organisations have real problems transferring ownership of resources, whether it’s furniture or ink-jet cartridges. There are issues like liability.

“One particular incident made me realise something had to be done. I saw some builders loading operators chairs into a skip, which cost about £140 each.

“I went across and asked what was happening, and the people involved said they’d been brought in to do a re-fit and someone had left the furniture there, so they had nowhere else to get rid of them other than a skip.

“The system that I’ve set up looks like a corporate Freecycle, allowing organisations to upload resources to a system which can be claimed by other people in the organisation. People can donate, loan and sell.”