Brick manufacturer Ibstock, the parent company behind roofing products brand, Forticrete, who temporarily suspended its operations in support of the government’s effort to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control and to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its colleagues, is to reopen.
Along with much of the UK building industry, the company will begin to safely bring some of its colleagues back into the workplace, from Monday April 27.
This will allow Ibstock to commence a phased approach to restart activity in some of its factories over the following weeks, prioritising those with higher demand and ensuring it can continue to support the UK’s construction industry and get Britain building again.
As the health and safety of Ibstock’s employees, customers and suppliers is paramount, the company has introduced enhanced protocols to ensure compliance with social distancing, hygiene and current guidelines regarding COVID-19. All of its sites will undergo a “safe-start” session before commencing operations to support the ongoing protective measures.
Joe Hudson, chief executive officer of Ibstock PLC, said: “We would like to thank our customers for the understanding and close communication, which has enabled us to plan together in recent weeks. Over the last 18 months, Ibstock has invested significantly in the reliability and capacity of our assets. As a result, we have good stock levels and are confident that by working together with our partners we can continue to meet your needs through this restart period.
“We have continued to despatch product for essential projects and have done this in a safe and effective way. With enquiries increasing, our commercial teams are available and continue to work remotely to process orders and payments, and to respond to your questions as required.”
Joe continued: “As a British manufacturer, we have no exposure to raw materials or finished goods coming from outside of the UK – over 95% of our raw materials are sourced on-site or from UK quarries. The breadth of our factory network means we are uniquely positioned, with our products having a low average radial delivery mileage, strengthening the responsiveness and reliability of our service.”
