A new way of doing business

As the UK nears the end of its second week of lockdown in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, businesses  have had to alter the way they run things for the safety of staff and customers.  

From processing warehouses to front-facing services, supermarkets and small shops, all have had to change their practises in keeping with national public health guidelines.  

Tulip Ltd, who have a site in Ashton, is one of hundreds of food processing companies that  have had to action additional safety measures, for a country that still demands up to 1.5 million tonnes of pork a week. 

“Tulip is taking all necessary steps in order to protect its people and maintain our supply chain so that we can continue to deliver food to the nation,” a spokesperson told us this week. 

“We recognise the important and demanding role our organisation and our people have to play in the current climate and we are immensely proud of the way they have collectively responded. We have also actioned a number of additional safety measures around site access, barrier hygiene and PPE.”

With the general public limited to strict outings – including ‘essential trips for items such as food and medicine’ - supermarkets have introduced measures to ensure the safety of staff and customers. 

Tesco have already introduced a restriction of three items per customer on every product and removed multi-buy offers, plus enforced social distancing and introduced hours for NHS workers and the elderly. 

Aldi, ASDA and Sainsbury’s have ordered and fitted protective checkout screens  to help prevent the spread of the virus to and from customer-facing workers  - with further implementations such as floor dots and separators.  

Across all stores, bosses say that they are going above and beyond in terms of hygiene with regular disinfection rotas. A full list of alterations and measures can be found on our website.

Another business in the spotlight is J D Williams, which has warehouses across the country, including one in Hadfield, through which fashion, plus home and garden furnishings are packaged for online sale - one business that is presently booming.

A spokesperson for the company told us: “We have made sure we strictly follow the most up-to-date Government guidelines for online businesses.

“In the latest advice the Government has made it clear that ‘online retail is still open and encouraged, and postal and delivery service will run as normal’. We are of course ensuring that we follow this guidance in the safest and most responsible way possible, strictly following the Public Health England guidelines.”

The company added further measures they have taken at Hadfield include: staggered entry and exit times to avoid unnecessary contact, reorganised operations to ensure recommended two-metre social distancing in all buildings, an expansion of cleaning regime and enhanced communication to reinforce health and safety messages.”