BSEE


Adverse mes have a tendency to bring out the best in people. Russell Shenton, managing director at Waterloo Air Products, describes how, with the support of his loyal, dedicated team and connuous communicaon with customers, his company has maintained


business as usual throughout the Covid19 crisis


riday 13th March was a red-letter day for us at Waterloo. It was then that we were first alerted to the radical changes that would be required from ourselves, as manufacturers of air terminal devices, and the wider building services industry in response to Coronavirus. All day long, the calls came in from our drivers reporting how they, their vehicles and our products were being turned away from site. The cause? Principal contractors, acting in response to government guidance on safe distancing, were closing sites across the country so that they could implement social distancing measures.


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It’s important to note here that the government has consistently reiterated that manufacturing and construction is a critical part of our economy and that sites should remain open where possible, following the Public Health England guidelines. However, until April 16th, when the Construction Leadership Council issued its Site Operating Procedures guidance, a certain ambiguity in the detail led to varying interpretations of exactly what was and was not permissible.


Our own view was that we should continue to be there for our customers, meeting their requirements for grilles, diffusers, plenums and louvres to the best of our ability. In this way, we would be helping to fuel construction, as called upon by the government, and supporting the national economy.


The number one priority throughout was always the safety of our own 140-strong team. So, even as the pallets of returned products began to arrive back at the factory, our focus had to be on responding agilely to protect all our workers as well as our customers.


All change


At Waterloo, we had previously operated a full double day shift each week, Monday to Friday, with the highest head count being the day shift and a skeleton team working across the weekend. It was clear that this rota would need to change, and fast.


We drew up an alternative structure, one that centred around three shifts, each equally staffed. Our proposal was that one team would work the day shift from Monday to Thursday while a second would take over for the night shift. The third group would then operate day shifts on the remaining days.


By reducing the number of people within each team, but still maintaining fairly high levels, we would be able to implement the required 2-metre distancing for the safety of our people. Between each shift, we carefully inserted a one-hour fire break to avoid the possibility of people from any two shifts crossing.


Russell Shenton working from home


That same day, we called a meeting with our production staff to put forward the new ways of working. Questions were answered and letters


confirming any changes in working terms issued immediately. With time to reflect on the proposal over the weekend, our team would be able to sign up to the new schedule directly, if in agreement, by the start of the next week.


Agile response


How did they respond? They were absolutely amazing. On Monday 16th March our new shift pattern was up and running. Our customer facing teams and finance department had all moved to working from home. From a customer perspective, we took care to maintain all normal contact details so that all calls were forwarded seamlessly to the correct mobile phones for continuity. We organised a storage facility close to the factory to store the returned products until such a time as we received further instruction from our customers. To protect staff for whom home working was not an option, we issued personalised letters describing the nature of the activity at Waterloo and how it adhered to government guidelines so that any questions asked by the police officers could be answered easily. In this way, with immediate effect and still, almost two months later, we are able to stick to our operational programme. For Waterloo, it’s very much business as usual – or rather as near normal as is possible in these uncertain times. As one of the few companies still supplying air terminal devices, we know from our customers how hugely our efforts are appreciated. Yes, we were able to react quickly. But it’s all down to our fantastic team. We have had to ask a lot of our loyal staff and they have risen as one to the challenge.


THROUGH THE CRISIS Rising to the challenge


Communication is vital


They say that adversity brings out the best in us. Certainly, the way the building services industry has united to get the job done and keep Britain building makes us profoundly proud to be part of this sector.


We have found that our customers are being as flexible as they can, keen to work collaboratively so that together we can resolve the issues at hand.


Good relationships and meaningful communication have been vital. While a widespread migration towards online meetings has been much documented, we have actually found a quick phone call to be the most effective means of keeping on top of situations that can literally alter day to day.


So, as the weeks go by, we continue to talk to our customers on a daily basis, checking in for updates to help support them and enable us to adapt to the evolving requirements as efficiently as we can.


What next?


So how to navigate the ongoing situation around Covid-19 once the lockdown is eased or lifted? While construction has not been shut down in England and Wales, the speed of operation has had to slow to conform with the safety guidance. And that means that we are all having to roll with the punches. As previously closed sites reopen, the focus must be on continued communication and collaboration across the supply chain to work around the constraints and truncated approach to working.


These are challenging times. But our industry has demonstrated adaptability, flexibility and resilience in spades to keep the UK going. Now we need to put the same energy into planning the bounce back.


And whatever changes lie ahead, the response of our team and support of our customers throughout this difficult period has made a lasting impression – our achievements as a company are testament to them.


26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JUNE 2020 Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


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