Ref: FV/COVID19/UPDATE Date: 23rd March 2020
Fort Vale would like to take this opportunity to update our colleagues, customers and suppliers on the situation we currently find ourselves in. Due to the ongoing and ever-changing developments with the global pandemic relating to the COVID-19 Coronavirus we feel it is appropriate to keep everyone informed as much as possible.
UK Position (23/3/20)
The UK governments stance is that as a country, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
That is why the government has given clear guidance on self-isolation, household isolation, social distancing, and asked that schools only remain open for those children who absolutely need to attend.
This guidance is helping reduce the spread of the virus and reduce the mounting pressure on our National Health Service, allowing those most acutely affected with COVID-19 to access the care they need.
Over the weekend there were further measures put in place to enforce closures of bars, cafes and restaurants to help minimise social gatherings.
At this stage there is no information to suggest that the closures will extend to all other business types, such as factories.
At the time of writing there were 5,683 confirmed cases in the UK out of a total of 78,340 who have been tested.
Fort Vale Position (23/3/20)
Fort Vale have taken measures to reduce the impact and risk of the spread of the virus within our organisation. The health of our colleagues and business partners is at the forefront of our concerns. Sanitising activities are happening across the business and up to date information and advice is being published across various media for our employees on a daily basis. PPE such as facemasks are also being issued to employees to help further reduce the risks.
We have advised employees to minimise all business travel to only essential travel and to make use of technology such as video conferencing etc for those meetings where travel would otherwise be required. We are also limiting visits into the factories and offices from customers and suppliers to that of essential visits only.
As yet we are not experiencing any major difficulties in our supply chain due to having alternative options should we require them, however with the constantly changing international government restrictions on movement we are monitoring this closely. We are also currently having no difficulties exporting products from the UK to various locations around the world.
We will continue to keep you our valued customers, suppliers and business partners up to date on progress of any enquiries and production orders as best we can in these difficult times.
If we are instructed by the government to take harsher measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or if conditions significantly worsen in the UK, then we will continue to update you should there be any developments to our situation at Fort Vale.
At this time, we are fully operational with a full complement of staff at both the Shanghai and UK factories. Our satellite offices around the world are also fully staffed to help with customer enquiries.
Graham Blanchard
Global Sales & Marketing Director