20 March 2020

Armstrong Ceilings Business Continuity Plans - coronavirus (COVID-19)

UPDATE 01/06/2020

As the lockdown restrictions across the countries we operate in begin to ease, we are pleased to observe some positive signs that the current situation is moving in the right direction. We have seen many of our distribution partners preparing for wider operations and several of their branches beginning to re-open, whilst continuing to adhere to country-specific guidance.

The UK Government, for example, recognises that a thriving construction industry is essential for economic recovery and it has been reported that 86% of construction sites in England and Wales are now open, which is up from 82% the previous week. The Downtime Index – the new measure of construction machine use in North America and Europe – shows a significant improvement with utilisation increasing in every region, led by Spain and Italy. The Centre/South of Italy (less affected by the disease) is predominantly back to work, with the Northern region restarting from June 3rd and The Lombardy region (Milan) which represent 28% of Italy GDP to resume over the following weeks. As a result of this, we are seeing growing demand for our mineral fibre, grid systems and Axiom range across all our regions.

To ensure we can meet this demand we have introduced further PPE and social distancing measures in our manufacturing plants to safeguard working conditions for our operatives while creating as minimal disruption to production and services as possible.

As a business, we prioritise the health and wellbeing of our people, and in line with government guidance, our employees will continue working from home wherever possible with our UK offices remaining closed until October when we will review this decision.

The Armstrong Ceiling Solutions management team continue to monitor the situation daily and respond accordingly to meet the needs of our customers. Please be assured that our home-based support teams are in place and ready to handle all enquiries in the same professional manner you would expect from us.
You can continue to reach us on the centralised numbers/email addresses below and through our usual digital channels.

For general enquiries please call 0800 371 849 or email ats@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk

UK, Ireland and Baltics Sales: +44(0)7810 756 423 or rgleiwitz@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk

Italy Sales: +39 335 436 596 or abuldrini@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk Spain Sales: +34 609 28 11 21 or jtejera@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk Portugal Sales: +351 938689030 or bdaluz@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk Turkey Sales: +90 0542 772 49 22 or sgonc@armstrongceilingsolutions.co.uk

 

UPDATE 22/04/2020

As a business we have been implementing various measures to manage the pandemic, ensuring our people and customers are not exposed to unacceptable risk whilst also safeguarding the health of our business.

We are pleased to report that throughout these unprecedented circumstances production in both our Gateshead manufacturing sites has continued, albeit with new processes and procedures in place.

We have undertaken full risk assessments and where potential issues have been identified (operators working at a distance less than 2m), protective screens have been installed and specific PPE has been employed to provide safety for our operators.  In addition, we have scaled  back the number of shifts we are running to enable full compliance with the COVID-19  guidance on social distancing, ensuring the safety and welfare of our employees during this time. We will continue to provide regular safety briefings and updates to all those based at our manufacturing plants.

We are communicating and working closely with our distribution partners to continue to manufacture and supply our mineral fibre and grid systems, with priority given to critical construction projects and essential works.

Mitigating potential disruption to our customers during these challenging times is still of utmost importance to us and our home based support teams are in place and ready to handle all enquiries in the same professional manner you would expect from us.

Of course we will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and respond accordingly to meet the needs of our customers, whilst protecting the long term strength of our business.

Thank you for your support through this difficult period for all of us and please keep safe.

 

UPDATE: 01/04/2020

As previously communicated, the Armstrong Ceiling Solutions Leadership Team are closely monitoring the development of the crisis and like many other businesses, we are following the advice and guidance set out by the relevant Governments and Health Authorities, using this to re-evaluate our plans and policies as well as informing our risk assessments as the situation evolves.

Health and safety remain our number one priority and we have taken proactive measures to protect the wellbeing of our employees as well as to limit the potential spread of infection.
Mitigating potential disruption to our customers and partners during these challenging times is of course of utmost importance to us and until now, we have been able to offer a near-unaffected service across our markets. However, the global crisis has reached new levels and we now need to take further actions to protect the long term health of our business, as well as our people. To that end, and with immediate effect, we will service our customers with a skeleton, home based sales support team. As a result, the normal methods of communication will be diverted to a central point in each market and handled in the same professional manner you would expect from us. However, it is most likely your usual local contact will not be at the end of the phone or email during this temporary period.

Of course we will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and respond accordingly to meet the needs of our customers, whilst protecting the long term strength of our business.

Thank you for your support through this difficult period for all of us and please keep safe.

 

UPDATE: 24/03/2020

As previously communicated, the Armstrong Ceiling Solutions Leadership Team are closely monitoring the development of the outbreak and like many other businesses, we are following the advice and guidance set out by the relevant Governments and Health Authorities, using this to re-evaluate our plans and policies as well as informing our risk assessments as the situation evolves.

Health and safety remains our number one priority and we have taken proactive measures to protect the wellbeing of our employees as well as to limit the potential spread of infection.
Mitigating potential disruption to our customers and partners during these challenging times is of course of utmost importance to us. Until now, we have been able to offer a near-unaffected service across our markets. However, following yesterday evening’s UK Government announcement, our service offer will come under increased strain and you may now see certain aspects of our service being temporarily reduced. We are making every effort to keep these changes to a minimum, whilst protection of our employees remains our number one priority.

We will continue to follow the guidance and advice from Government and Health Authorities and we will communicate again, directly with you, any updates to the situation.
Thank you for your support through this difficult period for all of us and please stay safe.

 

20 March 2020

The rapidly evolving coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is causing widespread fear and confusion across the world. It is a moving target, full of uncertainty and there is no getting away from the fact that many of us will be hugely impacted.

From a business perspective, we would like to assure you that the Armstrong Ceiling Solutions leadership team are closely monitoring the development of the outbreak and like many other businesses we are following the advice and guidance set out by the relevant Governments, health authorities and using this to re-evaluate our plans and policies as well as to inform our risk assessments as the situation evolves.

Health and safety remains our number one priority and we have taken proactive measures to protect the wellbeing of our employees as well as to limit the potential spread of infection. These include banning all business travel, stopping all face-to-face meetings, postponing all planned events and introducing a companywide work-from-home policy.
Mitigating potential disruptions to our customers and partners during these challenging times is of course of utmost importance to us. We have implemented various business continuity processes and employed all our available technologies to ensure a ‘business as usual’ approach and that we continue to deliver on all aspects of our business.

All planned and future meetings will be held remotely via the video conferencing tool ‘Microsoft Teams’ and all telephone numbers and email inboxes including our internal technical support lines will continue to be monitored and all enquiries actioned with the same levels of service that you have come to expect from Armstrong Ceiling Solutions. Your regular Armstrong contacts also remain fully available to support you via all the usual channels, please continue to engage with them in the usual manner.

At present operations at our two UK based manufacturing facilities remain un-affected. We have developed detailed functional action plans and are taking extra measures and precautions including implementing a 60 minute gap between production shifts to carry out a wipe-down process. Although we do not currently anticipate any impact to our manufacturing capabilities, individual country restrictions, especially across Europe, may potentially delay the delivery of our products. We greatly appreciate your understanding and support should this be the case.

We will continue to follow the guidance and advice from government and health authorities and we will continue to communicate any updates to the situation.

Our commitment to serving our customers during this situation remains as strong as ever. Thank you for your business and stay safe.