We, like many others, have issued numerous Covid-related updates over the past 15 months – and at times, it has felt like it would never end. Although Covid itself probably will never end, it seems as though there is some light at the end of the tunnel (in the UK at least) in terms of extra special working considerations.
Yes, we have furloughed some employees (initially in 3-week blocks, at times due to deferred orders and low overall demand when work simply could not be done), or more flexibly since July when that’s been an option and the industry has returned to a more progressive level of work.
BUT unlike many of our own suppliers, we have never used Covid as an excuse for late deliveries and poor service because we managed our working practices and invested in stocks to mitigate. In fact, our workshop have been working in split shifts from 6am until 7pm both to keep safe by minimising occupancy, whilst providing the service our customers expect. AND our office team have been, and to some extent continue to, working from home where possible using our remote working capability.
We are pretty sure that most of our customers have not even noticed any difference in service and delivery levels, which have been pretty seamless – apart from the occasional issue with carriers, which is outside our control.
Following the government’s announcement on 10th May, we are pleased to say that we shortly expect to be returning back to normal working practices (with the expected provisions and risk management of course). Hopefully this will now remain the case as the majority of our team have had, or will shortly have, their vaccinations.
We owe the team a massive ‘Thank you’ for the flexibility shown since last March, which has helped us all get through this difficult period in good shape.