We are mindful of the impact that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is having on all aspects of our business; our customers, our workforce, our supply chain partners, families and friends. We are following the situation closely and will take all necessary precautions to safeguard our workforce to the best of our ability while maintaining normal business operations, as far as possible.
Like others,
we continually revise our approach as new advice is issued or information
becomes available, but we wanted to let you know what we are doing now so that
we continue to be there to support you
over the coming days, weeks and months.
Contingency Plans
We have already implemented several measures:
- We have established an operational resilience team reporting directly to the board.
- All non-essential business travel has been suspended.
- We have excluded people from our offices and depots
where they present a risk of transmitting the virus because they:
- Have travelled internationally on business or holiday in the previous 14 days.
- Are currently living, or have been living, with family or friends who have travelled internationally in the previous 14 days.
- We have agreed reasonable adjustments to working practices for those concerned about travel on public transport to and from work, those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and those with underlying health conditions or who are pregnant.
- Wherever possible, face-to-face meetings have been amended to take place using video or telephone conference channels. If a face-to-face meeting is unavoidable, we are advising that the meeting should be for a minimum period, preferably take place outside or in a large well-ventilated meeting room and participants should keep a distance of at least 2 metres between each other.
- We are exercising discretion in relation to any policies or procedures requiring employees to medically certify absence from work if they are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, are a principal carer of somebody at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 or they are self-isolating following government guidelines.
Offices
We’ve been rigorously following the recommendations of the various statutory Public Health bodies and the World Health Organisation over the last few weeks. We have been self-isolating and maintaining distance wherever possible and will continue to do so. All our offices are currently open as usual.
We are following government guidelines on preventative measures; hand sanitiser is provided in all offices and surfaces are being cleaned regularly with anti-bacterial wipes and disinfectant cleaner.
Large numbers of our workforce are working from home or are working in the field using mobile information technology. With this in mind, we anticipate little disruption and aim to continue business as usual.
Depots and Sites
We remain committed to delivering our full range of services. Our depots remain open and our workforce continues to visit construction sites across Great Britain in line with our scheduled work programme.
We are liaising closely with our supply chain partners to ensure that we have continued access to all essential products, services and materials. We are not currently aware of any supply chain constraints and have satisfied ourselves with their operational resilience plans.
Keeping informed
As we continue to navigate the daily challenges, we will endeavour to keep you updated in good time of any anticipated impact on normal business operations.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our team and supply chain partners for your continued support and to wish you and your families the very best in uncertain times.
Thursday 19th March 2020
