COVID-19: Business Update May 2020

Following our post from March 2020, we wanted to provide an update regarding how Fairfields are continuing to operate safely during the current COVID-19 pandemic and share some of the measures we are preparing to put in place for our phased return to ‘normal’ activities.

We continue to take the situation very seriously, and we are following the recommendations, directives and official advice from the UK Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Our Business Continuity and Senior Management Teams continue to ensure Fairfields are doing everything possible to keep our staff, clients, suppliers and the public safe, while maintaining high standards of service and delivering our contractual obligations.

Our stance has not changed regarding our employees: all vulnerable/high-risk staff are working from home and are not attending the office or any site. The rest of our office-based staff continue to work from home, and site-based staff are carrying out a COVID-19 risk assessment before attending site and starting any work. We are pleased to say our 24/7 support service remains unaffected by the current situation.

Business Continuity at Fairfields

• Application Engineers in our Sales Teams are continuing to solve customers problems and produce proposals from home
• Our Design Teams are working from home with regular online team and project meetings
• We have safe systems in place to be able to continue to accept deliveries and post
• Our Administration and Accounts Department are operational and are answering phone and email queries from home
• Our Service and Commissioning Teams can continue to work as usual, with the addition of a COVID-19 risk assessment and following recommended guidelines on PPE
• Our Business Continuity Team and QHSE Manager are currently assessing the office spaces and making plans for anyone who needs to return to the office. We are also planning for a smooth and safe transition back into our workspaces when the guidance permits it, and when we believe it is safe to do so.
• We are putting measures in place to allow us to continue the use of our test facility with on-site or remote factory acceptance tests (FAT)

As we mentioned in our last update, these are the measures we already have in place and that we continue to follow:

• All staff members have laptops and can work remotely. We also all have smartphones and can access company communications and services from these.
• The majority of our business information systems are held and stored electronically and can be accessed remotely over a secure connection.  This enables us to continue normal business processes with little or no disruption.
• We have increased our capability to provide phone and web-based conferencing to facilitate continued client and supplier contact.
• Regretfully, during this period, we will only be conducting essential face-to-face meetings with clients or suppliers. However, we fully understand that to continue supporting our clients some contact will be required. On these occasions, a risk-based approach will be taken.
• We are still not undertaking non-essential site visits at this time.

Fairfields would like to thank you for your support and patience in these uncertain times.