Following the statement from the Prime Minister on 23 March, British Glass has taken the decision to close the British Glass offices until further notice to comply with the government’s directive to stay at home.
Currently, British Glass staff, including the Member Services and Communications teams, are working remotely from home and are continuing with business as usual where possible. They hope to be able to continue to support their members as normal in the coming weeks.
The Member Services team are currently supporting members through the COVID-19 pandemic by:
» Discussing business criticality and key worker status with government departments and other trade associations daily
» Speaking directly to the senior executive group about concerns and issues through this difficult time.
» Sending out government advice to businesses on a weekly basis on health and financial support.
» Continuing to hold H&S and E&E committee meetings via video conferencing to ensure continued support on compliance and understand any operational concerns throughout the pandemic
» Continuing with all member group meetings via web or teleconference
On 19 March, CEO Dave Dalton commented on the effect of COVID-19 on the glass industry:
Of course, the UK glass industry is deeply concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the market and their longer-term position should this situation endure for months rather than weeks.
Financially this is a particularly sensitive time for the whole supply-chain, and we are working closely with the sector, BEIS, the Treasury, CBI and other agencies to ensure all support measures being developed and implemented are accessible to our manufacturers and their customers.
These are deeply worrying times and completely unchartered territory for manufacturing, both as a whole and in particular for glass production as a continuous operation that runs 24/7 with a limited capacity to ‘press the pause button’.
At British Glass we are committed to safeguarding our staff and are closely monitoring the situation to make sure we are taking all of the precautions to protect our members and colleagues and will send updates when necessary.
You can find the latest advice from the Government below:
» Guidance for employers and businesses on coronavirus (COVID-19)
» Guidance for employees on coronavirus (COVID-19
If you have any queries or are in need of any assistance during this time you should contact Jenni Richards, Paul Pearcy or the central communications email.
British Glass will continue to give updates when necessary and, in the meantime, they hope we are all safe and well.
Source: www.britglass.org.uk
