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Covid-19 silver linings: working from home


With many working from home during the current epidemic, ACR News spoke to staff at Bitzer UK and Green Point UK about the challenges – and some unexpected upsides – of working from home.


T


he government advice is crystal clear. If you can, work from home. These words, fi rst spoken from the Downing


Street podium in late March – and repeated every day since, rapidly set in train a total reorganisation of the way businesses run across the country.


From the largest multi-national to the humblest family concern, there was a race to work out the best way of managing things, in order to keep everyone safe while keeping the wheels of industry turning.


“Due to the critical nature of the work we do,


continuing to operate, while safeguarding the safety of staff and customers, is a crucial issue for refrigeration companies in particular,” says Kevin Glass, managing director of Bitzer UK and Green Point UK.


“As a result of Covid-19, we are more conscious


than ever that the nation’s food supply depends on refrigeration. Cooling is also vital, of course, for hospitals, medicine and blood supplies. There is also the rather sombre but inescapable reality that refrigeration is essential for maintaining public health by providing safe storage facilities until funeral arrangements can be made for those who have sadly passed away.” For all these reasons, it was absolutely


essential that refrigeration companies were able to continue operating to keep the country’s


16 May 2020


life-support infrastructure working.


How have Bitzer


UK and sister company Green Point UK – located together in Milton Keynes – managed to maintain operations during the lockdown? “Everything came together very quickly, we hardly missed a beat,” Mr Glass says. “All of our offi ce staff are working from home, remotely looking after technical support and admin, covering fi nance, order processing and purchasing. We have a rota, and one of us goes into the offi ce each day to cover eventualities.” For those unable to work from home, the


companies have split the warehouse and workshop staff into two teams, which carry out alternate shifts. This ensures proper social distancing for those on site at all times. To date, all staff have been retained without


the need for furloughs. This refl ects the level of business being maintained so far, although Mr Glass says the situation is being kept under review


as things develop. A key element in enabling working from home is of course technology. Staff can access their work desktop machines by logging in remotely through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A cloud-based ‘phone system enables people to make and answer calls as if they were in the offi ce, retaining the same numbers. Video conferencing brings everyone together at least once a week, as much to share thoughts and keep in touch for social and welfare purposes as for business


reasons. A combination of Zoom and Webex for UK contacts, and Skype for international meetings with headquarters in Germany, helps keep the show on the road and everyone informed.


Overall, how are the arrangements working? “I class the business as operating at 100%.


I honestly don’t believe customers notice any diff erence in the level of service. The only thing missing for us is the social part of working together, making each other tea and coff ee, and the everyday informal conversations that brighten the day.”


Has work-related email or telephone traffi c


increased or decreased during the lock-down? “The number of emails seems to have increased, with questions becoming more complicated and


www.acr-news.com


Kevin


Glass.


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