Coronavirus (Covid-19) – Williamson Foodservice statement.

Williamson Foodservice take the safety of our staff, the products we supply and our customers very seriously. We will continue to pay close attention to the health advice being given by the UK government.

As more information becomes available, we know that adopting certain behaviours can help to reduce the risk of infection for ourselves, our colleagues and our customers.

Hygiene Practices

To date, Williamson Foodservice has had no confirmed cases of individuals being infected with the virus and none of our staff have come into contact with infected individuals to our knowledge.

As the government has acknowledged that an increase in UK Coronavirus infections is inevitable, the company has already put in place a number of its own appropriate proactive measures across its operations and company locations. These additional measures aim to protect the ongoing well-being of our employees and allow business operations to continue with minimal impact.

We have updated employees across our company, advising them to take preventative measures in order to limit the risk of transmission in line with advice from the relevant agencies.

This advice specifically covers steps to take to ensure the highest standards of hygiene across our sites and our employees, along with advice to those travelling to and from affected areas, particularly from any of the ‘lock-down’ or higher risk areas.

Advice being followed includes stringent hand washing and other personal hygiene practices from coughing or sneezing as well as guidance on the avoidance of touching faces and minimising close contact with others. Furthermore, we have also increased the frequency of environmental sanitisation including all work surfaces, door handles and high volume touch points, including delivery vehicles.

As a business we have eradicated all site meetings from external sources and in conjunction with suppliers minimised the amount of contact during actual deliveries of products. We have also stopped face-to-face meetings until further notice but you are welcome to get in touch with our staff who are ready to provide advice, guidance and to continue dialogue by phone or email wherever possible.

Principles of self-isolation and notification of changes in employees who may exhibit flu symptoms have been circulated to all staff so the necessary preventative action can be taken without delay.

Travel & Visitors

We have implemented a business travel ban to all high risk and lock down areas. Leave will not be granted to employees wishing to travel to high risk and lock-down areas. We will not be taking any visitors that have travelled to or been in contact with anyone who has been in the high risk or lock-down areas. We are also implementing procedures to minimise any risks during supplier deliveries whilst maintaining healthy stock levels.

Availability

Understandably, there has been a recent increase in demand for products such as bactericidal hand soap, kitchen sanitiser, catering wipes and toilet rolls and we are working closely with suppliers to satisfy demand. Please bear with us on these product ranges as demand will, for the foreseeable future be high. If you anticipate a higher than expected order pattern for these products or any others please speak to us as early as possible.

Please be aware that during this time when some products may become scarce we have a number of other products from our ambient range that may help satisfy your requirements in the short-term. Please do contact us to discuss these options.

Continuity of Service

The dynamic and rapidly changing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation is being closely monitored by Williamson Foodservice senior management. The necessary action and precautions are being taken to contain the risk of illness as far as is practicable and ensure continuity of service to customers.

Customer Delivery and Lock-Down

We take both the health and safety of our employees and our mission to deliver service excellence to our customers very seriously and will work with our customers to minimise any potential disruption to continuity of supply.

We are asking customers to allow our delivery drivers to deliver to a point that allows for minimum personal contact. This may mean an outside location. Our sales team may have already discussed this with you however if you have devised a plan for this please let us know.

If your site becomes affected by a coronavirus outbreak and undergoes a ‘lock-down’ phase, please let us know as a matter of urgency.

We will take guidance from the relevant bodies and liaise directly with you to find a safe way of ensuring continuity of deliveries where possible.

If you pay drivers by cheque and/or cash, please contact us on 01463 236600 and we will explain the necessary arrangements.

As this is a constantly evolving situation, we are proactively planning ahead and closely following updates from the relevant agencies.

We will continue to update you as the situation changes or further information becomes available.  If you have any specific enquiries about the products that you buy from us, please contact our tele-sales team by calling either 0345 450 8888 if your query is order based or 01463 236600 for any other queries.

We thank all our customers for their ongoing support.