Aermec

09 April 2020 - Aermec SpA has been granted new authorisation from the Italian authorities to supply goods for a wide range of projects and continue manufacturing chillers for critical applications. Initially all air conditioning companies in Italy were instructed to close last month in a bid to combat Covid-19. Restrictions have subsequently been revised and are currently in force until 13 April.

However, the Italian government is now planning to revive the economy and start easing some restrictions.  Aermec and other selected firms will be able to continue operations by supplying specified products including those destined for critical applications. 

The Italian government has issued a list containing 97 categories, indicating which industries can receive products. These include medical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, scientific research as well as IT and communications and many more.

 “These are very specific authorisations, but positive steps in what are challenging times and it is good news for many companies, their employees and the economy,” commented Paul Lawrence, managing irector of Aermec UK.

It is anticipated that these measures will be in place for some weeks. Aermec is in contact with all its customers to help and advise them.

In the UK, Aermec’s commercial staff are working remotely. A revised programme to protect staff whilst ensuring they minimise the spread of the virus is being operated by the company’s service and maintenance division. Priority is being given to critical sites.

AFR Refrigeration

26 March 2020 - AFR Refrigeration is open and it's business as usual for the moment, keeping with our normal business hours. Our sales, technical and finance staff are working from home remotely and we have cover in both the warehouse and trade counter.

Trade counter customers can phone orders through and we’ll arrange collection at our goods inward section and we also have a facility for out of hours collections.

While our couriers remain operating, we can continue to dispatch both capital equipment and spare parts.

Our current stock situation is good and we’ve been working closely with our suppliers to avoid any future disruptions.

A-Gas

26 March 2020 - A-Gas managing director John Ormerod said: “A robust supply chain relying on multiple global sources, together with putting into action existing contingency plans, is allowing us to offer a near to normal service to customers. We also benefit from the production of reclaimed refrigerants onsite.

“Some of our global teams are further down the coronavirus curve than the UK and we have put this experience to good use. We have been pro-active with social distancing. Staff worldwide have been encouraged to work from home, although we still have operational team members onsite to ensure our customers remain supported. Onsite we are also operating split shift patterns to reduce risk and best protect our teams. 

“We have taken extra precautions such as enhanced cleaning regimes and sanitisation across our sites and offices. Our teams worldwide are available to take calls and emails to support customers.'

Aggreko

31 March 2020 - Chris Rason, managing director at Aggreko Northern Europe said: “Over recent weeks we have been preparing our business and taking immediate measures to ensure we are able to prioritise equipment for the following sectors: healthcare, utilities, food & beverage and pharmaceuticals.

“As with many people and organisations, we are now receiving enquiries that are new to both ourselves and our customers due to such unprecedented times. However, being classified as a critical support business means we are able to immediately mobilise our expertise and equipment for any given emergency.

“Our quality, health, safety, service and environment team has rigorously reviewed all our processes to ensure our business can safely and effectively facilitate any jobs relating to the current COVID-19 situation. All our staff are fully equipped and trained, both physically and emotionally, to attend sensitive environments and install equipment where required. These measures are in place to make sure we are minimising all our risks in the design and running of the projects, and that we do not contribute to the spread of the virus. '

Airedale

25 March 2020 - Due to the critical role our business plays in supporting UK and International key infrastructure (such as data centres, healthcare, energy, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals), it has been determined by the management team that Airedale must continue to operate during this national emergency, albeit at a reduced capacity in order to keep our employees safe. We are prioritising production and service call outs based on criticality, whilst increasing social distancing and therefore safety for our people. We are also increasing the ability of our workforce to work from home, with several measures in place to support both this and the safety of people who remain at work.

Barkell

25 March 2020 - Barkell is open for business and working on several hospital projects, the decision being to continue with production in order to support the UK’s critical infrastructure. The safety and wellbeing of our people is absolutely critical so we will be following all government guidelines on social distancing and additional special measures will be put in place around the facility following the further announcements from the Government. We are also increasing the ability of our workforce to work from home, with several measures in place to support both this and the safety of people who remain at work.

Beehive Coils

14 April 2020 – Beehive Coils is continuing to operate with a Critical Production Team during the current crisis, due to its essential role in designing and manufacturing products used in many vital areas of UK Infrastructure. We are maintaining continuity of supply and prioritising critical requirements for emergency power, food storage, food transportation, the NHS and Covid-19 specific production to assist with the UK’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. We have taken extra measures wherever possible at our factory in Newmarket to ensure our CPT and their families are protected as much as possible whilst at work. Our office is only part staffed at present but please email sales@beehivecoils.co.uk if you have any urgent/critical requirements, and we’ll do our best to assist.

Bitzer and Green Point UK

07 April 2020 - Bitzer UK and sister company Green Point UK are operating as close as possible to normal during the current Coronavirus epidemic, and giving priority to customers in critical industries. In particular, this includes maintaining supplies of new and remanufactured compressors and spare parts to food manufacturers and processors, retail businesses, hospitals, medical research facilities, communications and data centres, and other key temperature dependent applications.

Office staff from both companies are currently working normally from home, with warehouse and Green Point remanufacturing activities operating a split team system, ensuring full compliance with the government’s social distancing requirements.

Kevin Glass, managing director of both companies, said: “In terms of supplies, I am pleased to say we have good stocks of compressors and spare parts, partly as a result of pre-Brexit planning.

“For obvious reasons we are giving priority to customers in key industries, as we are acutely aware of the importance of refrigeration in maintaining the food chain and, not least, the hospital and healthcare sector at this time of national emergency. Both companies’ sales and customer service functions will continue to assist during this difficult time, to ensure continued support for customers while keeping employees safe.”

Bond Group

31 March 2020 - Our account facing teams are ready and remain at your disposal, working from home contactable on mobile phones via email.  Both our Sheerness and Telford facilities will remain open for production, operating with an essential skeleton workforce.  If you need to reach someone in Sheerness via a landline, please press Option 2 only (calls to all other options will probably not be picked up, or responded to if you leave a voicemail), or via info@bond-group.co.uk

Business Edge

27 March 2020 - Business Edge is re-engineering the Training & Certification courses offered by the Training Division. While all imminent courses at Business Edge Training Centres have been postponed until May to avoid personal contact, a number of RACHP Courses are about to become available On-Line. The On-Line Courses will cover F-Gas Theory, Electrical Training, Ducted Systems Design and several other RACHP areas.

Carel

24 March 2020 - In accordance with the latest Decree by the Italian’s Prime Minister Office, signed the 22 March, which, aiming at stemming the spread in Italy of the emergency linked to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), introduced stricter measures related to industrial and commercial production activities and to people mobility, Carel will stop the production activities of its plants in Italy starting from 26 of March until the 3 April 2020. Currently, the aforementioned plants are mainly carrying out preparation activities for this stop and warehousing and shipping activities.

With the aim of mitigating, as far as possible, the negative impacts deriving from the stop of the production activity in Italy, the presence of Group's plants in almost all continents is particularly important at this time. Carel can count on a significant production flexibility guaranteed by five factories abroad, some of which have been expanded recently. The plants of the Group are located in Croatia, Germany, Brazil, China and the United States, all currently fully operating.

Climalife UK

19 March 2020 - We have already activated our Business Continuity Plan for parts of our business which will allow where possible remote working but with full access to our systems and order processing.

We have instructed our filling plant to increase the amount of filled stock in cylinders available as we have seen demand from the market increasing and we think for a short time will continue to increase.

Please continue to place your orders in the usual manner by email and if necessary, please phone the office if you need to speak to someone.

We encourage our customers to keep in contact with the Climalife regional sales manager dedicated to their business as they will also have the ability to ensure requests and orders are dealt with.

As the situation is changing each day, we invite you to follow us via our website or on our social media networks where we will post any relevant updates.

Daikin

31 March 2020 - We will continue to do our utmost to minimise the impact on our customers. However, we cannot entirely avoid a probable impact on our supply chain, so here’s an update on the current status of our supply network.

• Component supply from China: swift actions and the airfreight of large quantities of components means the effect on our European productions has been successfully limited.
• Component supply within Europe: component manufacturers in Italy, France and Belgium are closing operations, which is causing capacity constraints for the Daikin factories. However, we are seeking alternative solutions where possible
• Daikin factories in Europe: Our factories in Italy producing chillers, AHU and fancoils are reopening soon, the factory in Belgium is operating at reduced capacity and our factories in Czech Republic and Turkey are currently operating at almost normal capacity
• Transport in Europe: Transport of our goods may be subject to increased delivery delays, due to additional border crossing controls
• Spare parts: We continue to hold good stocks of spare parts and continued to be supplied from the European spare parts warehouse in Ostend.

Daikin UK is still making deliveries to meet our customers’ requirements, so we would be grateful if you could update our teams if your deliveries are to be cancelled, sites are closed or a special vehicle such as a Hiab is required.

We would like to assure you that we will continue to make every effort to ensure the ongoing supply of Daikin products. We remain committed to supporting our loyal customers as much as possible in the weeks and months ahead, so that we can look forward to a brighter and stronger future together.

18 March 2020 - Due to the latest restrictions on travel and gatherings, all AC and Heating Product training sessions scheduled and booked at Daikin Training Centres are now cancelled until 30 April. As a result, the Daikin training website will not be taking bookings until further notice.

Embraco

25 March 2020 - Nidec Global Appliance, parent company of Embraco, is committed to joining efforts against coronavirus in this unprecedented time. We understand that there’s no better way to accomplish our mission than providing a healthy workplace to those who are the ones moving our businesses daily.

Based on that, our plants around the world have been following the recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and from the local governments to put in place several disinfection actions, reinforcement of hygiene importance while enabling social distancing among our teams. It’s through these efforts that we want to continue providing a healthy environment to our employees as well as differentiated solutions for home and commercial appliances customers.  

Fieldpiece

25 March 2020 - Fieldpiece is adhering to all US state and federal requirements with the majority of employees working remotely.  Those going into the office to fulfil product orders adhere to social distances.  As part of the essential supply chain, we continue to enter orders, ship product and answer customer service calls. We’ve just had to make adjustments but are committed to making sure our customers get all the assistance they need.

Freedom Heat Pumps

25 March 2020 - Still business as usual. For lockdown 2020 only, Freedom Heat Pumps is offering free online heat pump training. Over the coming week, the company will be releasing training videos with supplementary course material and a quiz at the end. More information will be available on the company's social media.”

Fujitsu

25 March 2020 - The vast majority of our team are now working from home but continue to have access to all of our systems to ensure all of our customers enquiries can be dealt with as efficiently as possible during these challenging times.

We are also working closely with our distribution partners to ensure there is minimal disruption to fulfilling orders, however, with the situation changing quickly we do anticipate that we may encounter some challenges along the way.

Our Elstree office remains open for the supply of spare parts.

Our technical team can be contacted in the usual manner and as an extra level of support, we will be offering our out of hours text service to all Infinity customers who may find they need support when working unusual hours, our out of hours support will operate over the weekend between 9am to 5pm.

Güntner

30 March 2020 - Güntner responded early on by introducing prudent safety precautions at the beginning of March to avoid personal contact to the greatest possible extent with most staff working from home.

The manufacturing and logistics departments continue to run smoothly at present. 'We set up the globally acting Güntner Task Force for Continuity and Safety,' said Michael Freiherr, Güntner managing director technology. 'It keeps close contact to our suppliers worldwide and monitors all logistics chains.'

In addition to this, Güntner increased stock levels as a precautionary measure and has second source suppliers for the most important components in several countries, ensuring sufficient supplies for the production processes, and our eight manufacturing sites around the globe to continue to deliver on time.

Heronhill

06 April 2020 - As a result of the temporary downturn in business, we have reduced our operating hours at our Wellington office from 10.00 AM to 4.00 PM, Monday to Friday. Although our technical and sales telephone support will be available from 8.30 AM to 4.30 PM.

Our cut off time for dispatch of stock items is 2.30 PM, although we will make every endeavour to dispatch beyond this time if possible.

In order to further protect our staff, we have closed the office to non-essential visitors. Customers wishing to collect are advised to place orders in advance so items can be set aside in a secure area.

26 March 2020 - Heronhill is open for business to maintain its level of service. We are closely following Government guidelines and have put in place secure measures to ensure our staff can continue to work safely. We have a small team in the office and warehouse while our technical, sales and finance staff are able to work from home. While our couriers are operating, we can continue to dispatch equipment, spare parts, etc., on a daily basis.

In order to further protect our staff, we have closed the office to non-essential visitors. Customers wishing to collect are advised to place orders in advance so the items can be set aside in a secure area. 

Humidity Solutions

25 March 2020 - Humidity Solutions is fully operational.  Staff are working from home but systems are in place to provide all our usual services:

1. Equipment and spares: we have a comprehensive stock of equipment and spares in our warehouse which can be dispatched immediately subject to couriers’ terms and conditions.
2. Sales and technical support teams are fully operational and can be contacted through all the usual channels.
3. Site and service visits are still being made, subject to government guidelines and appropriate risk assessments in place.

J&E Hall

25 March 2020 - J&E Hall wishes to reassure customers that for now it is business as usual, however the situation remains dynamic and we will be issuing updates as advice from the authorities or our own company’s circumstances change. 

We have put in place measures to ensure that we have business continuity:

• We have moved to a remote working model
• Our service engineers are on call to support critical businesses as and when required
• We have good stocking levels and will provide regular updates on model availability to our customer’s
• Have been in constant touch with our suppliers and manufacturing facilities to maintain supply for critical projects / customers.

Logicool

25 March 2020 - Founder Karl Richardson said: 'We are in a unique position here. As we are a family business and the distance from home to work is less than half a mile we are able to attend as a family and still self isolate. Therefore we can stay within the guidelines.

'Staff are working from home and all phones and emails are being answered as normal. Quotations are also being processed. Our logistics partners are also operational and we are still dispatching goods. Orders are low, but we will continue to react positively as and when required.'

Lu-Ve

25 March 2020 - The Lu-Ve Group has announced that following the issuing of the  Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers in Italy, starting from midnight of 25 March until 3 April, work will stop at the plants producing Lu-Ve exchangers and manifolds, TGD, AIR HEX and SEST in order to contribute to the common effort to contain the spread of the virus.

The Spirotech plant the former Alfa Laval site in India will also be closed until 14 April following the order issued by the Government of India. The SEST Lu-Ve plant in Russia will be closed from 30 March to 5 April.

For Italian plants, the shipping service - limited to products manufactured by 23 March and spare parts - and the goods receipt service will both remain active.

The Tecnair plant in Uboldo, Italy will continue to manufacture, but only the products for urgent orders required for the fight against Covid-19.

Business is as usual in factories producing HTS (Czech Rep.), SEST Lu-Ve Gliwice (Poland), Lu-Ve AIA Asarum (Sweden), Fincoil Lu-Ve Vantaa (Finland) and Zyklus (US). However, we do not exclude the possibility that, in the coming weeks, the various national authorities will take measures to suspend production.

Our commercial network, both Italian and international, and all branches, commercial and representative offices are operational via remote working. The purchasing offices will also remain active, both centrally and peripherally.

Pacair

25 March 2020 - Managing director of Pacair Nigel Palmer said: 'We're still offering full service at this time.'

Petra

22 April 2020 - The Jordanian Government has announced a further extension of the stringent lock down measures to manage the Coronavirus outbreak until April 30. However, the industrial sector, including Petra Engineering Industries, has been authorised to partially re-open their production facilities. We have therefore restarted our production activities for chillers and air handling units.

Making this announcement, Omar Ali, director of operations thanked Petra’s customers for their patience during this difficult and challenging period.  Martin Altenbokum, business development director Europe, commented that the UK operations continue to support the market in the UK and Europe by working remotely and looks forward to the recommencement of shipping for on-going projects.

25 March 2020 - Petra Engineering is following all guidelines issued by the authorities in the territories in which we operate, and with regards to the UK this means that we are all working from home and continuing our business activities remotely.

We maintain close communication with our colleagues in our manufacturing centres and, where applicable, will keep clients continually updated about the status of all orders currently in production.

Our phones and emails are manned, and we are ready to support our customers in any way that we can. ?

Pump House

25 March 2020 - The health of our employees and customers is our top priority. To reduce their risk of exposure to Covid-19, we have:

• Suspended all business travel until further notice
• Set up contingency plans to enable mobile working for colleagues where possible
• Enhanced the cleaning of our offices
• Screening the temperatures of staff twice a day

In addition to the steps we’ve taken to protect the well-being of our people, we have been reviewing the business continuity plans to ensure our operations continue to run smoothly. This includes making sure we have contingencies in place to deal with any potential disruptions throughout the markets and with our critical partners.

Due to the ongoing situation, please be advised that Pump House will reduce to 50% staff working from the office and 50% staff working from home - two teams alternating weekly. The warehouse is fully operational until further notice. 

Resource Data Management (RDM)

27 March 2020 - To help customers within essential sectors to keep running and support the national infrastructure amidst the crisis, we continue to provide products, services and support, including our 24-hour remote monitoring and facilities management incident handling.

We have implemented a work from home policy for the majority of staff, and home workers can cover all areas of the business.

We continue to have good stocks of products. We would ask customers to keep in touch regularly with their requirements and especially to let us know in advance if they have any concerns on deliveries due to office/site closures due to the ongoing lockdown.

To minimise risk to staff and customers, we have cancelled onsite training and will provide support and training for the next few months using video conferencing.

Our COVID-19 notice will be updated regularly and is accessible via the RDM website homepage

Sanhua

25 March 2020 - Sanhua Europe reports that it is delivering goods as normal, although subject to local logistical issues in some countries. Production is at full capacity and Sanhua Europe has stock in Poland, which is still operating. 

Support remains as usual with sales and commercial staff working from home.

Sauermann

25 March 2020 - At Sauermann, we are determined keep our operations running as normal in these unprecedented times – and to play our part in the fight against #Coronavirus. 

We are working hard to continue manufacturing and supplying our entire product range to our customers and partners, including many hospitals and healthcare facilities on the front line of the pandemic. 

We want to pay tribute to our courageous employees wherever they are working: on the ground, on our production lines, in our offices and at home. We owe it to our people to keep them safe and we are following all official guidance accordingly. 

Our differential pressure sensors and data loggers are essential assets in the fight against the #virus, and we intend to fulfil every urgent order we receive for field hospitals currently under construction. 

Our supply chain is secure, our production lines are operating, and our teams are ready to serve.

Smith Brothers Stores (SBS)

24 March 2020 - SBS directors issued a statement: Our business remains open supporting supplies to critical sectors, helping to ensure that sites connected to the following receive uninterrupted supply, these are:

• National Health Service
• Care Homes
• Education
• Emergency Services
• Prisons
• Private Health Care Facilities
• Data/Comms Centres
• Supermarkets
• Food/Healthcare Production Facilities

Procedures are in place to actively promote safe working for our colleagues, customers and suppliers. The staff and branch operations have been temporarily streamlined to support the stance taken by the Government and Public Health England. We will constantly review the situation but must stress that our primary concern is to ensure supplies to vital services during this time. Over the coming days/weeks we will review procedures should any change be required.

Star Refrigeration

21 April 2020 - In line with government guidance, Star is continuing to operate its UK manufacturing facilities in Glasgow, providing critical support to the cold chain and other key industries. Star is continuing to manufacture and install new refrigeration equipment to meet the demand for increased capacity and help feed the nation.

In early March, Star instigated a strict COVID-19 health and safety plan to protect manufacturing personnel and minimise risk on installation projects at customer sites nationwide. Production has continued throughout the UK lock down at Star’s manufacturing facilities in Thornliebank and Westway, where shifts are currently operating around the clock, five days a week.

Star Refrigeration contracts director Lewis Brown says: “We are supporting essential industries by continuing to manufacture and install new refrigeration plant, to bring much needed additional capacity. We are also continuing installation work to improve the reliability of existing refrigeration equipment at customer facilities. This will help to ensure temperature compliance as we approach the summer months, providing the cold chain and other key industries with greater resilience.”

07 April 2020 - In line with the guidance from the government, Star Refrigeration is an essential support service to the production, processing, storage and distribution of food and is also involved in the maintenance of essential support services to the healthcare industry as well as mainframe IT equipment for communications and data processing.

As such, we are able to ensure critical repair and maintenance activities are undertaken to keep these industries operational, but also to continue with the production and installation of new equipment as part of this essential service.

At a time where the wider supply chain is affected, we are seeing longer lead times and delayed deliveries with parts and equipment, which might further impact our ability to resume your normal service in a timely manner.

We have the UK’s largest industrial refrigeration engineering teams, but resourcing breakdowns and unplanned activities might become challenging as we are unsure how the situation will develop and the impact this will have on the level of operational staff during the coming weeks or months. On that basis, we would recommend that all current maintenance schedules are maintained for as long as possible as regular maintenance will identify any potential faults early and allow our engineers to prevent or reduce the impact to your business operations.

We will triage and prioritise activities ensuring that we can provide the necessary and appropriate level of service to all existing and new customers.

Where customers are connected to our monitoring hub, we are able to access refrigeration plant data 24-hours a day and receive notices of alarms and faults. This provides our operations team with real-time visibility of your cooling system’s health and performance and informs our engineers so that they can act quickly when needed.

Where installation work is ongoing at an existing facility, this will typically be to improve the reliability of existing equipment. Continuing with this work will help to ensure temperature compliance as we come into the summer months, providing the necessary resilience for the cold chain and other key infrastructure.

Installation work on new facilities will also bring much needed additional capacity to the food supply chain during the current health emergency. Whilst we are seeing some challenges around the supply of components and resources we are working with our supply chain on a daily basis to mitigate any potential delays. All installation work is being carried out in line with the governments guidelines for construction work under COVID-19.

Strongduct

25 March 2020 - Managing director Mick Delgano said:'Here at Strongduct we are keeping our doors open until we are told to shut, this is in direct support of our clients who are very worried about liquid and ascertained damages.'

Thermacom

26 March 2020 - We are still functioning as a business with a priority for healthcare / hospital related projects, and with all other works subject to a decision by individual clients that such works are deemed essential.

Current Government guidance is that building maintenance works remain critical (Government Minister on LBC Nick Ferrari on 25 March). That said, we have about 50% of our current works sites closed for access presently and we do not undertake domestic business.

For 95% of our maintenance sites, even those closed to physical access, we still have direct access to review the chillers and associated equipment and make adjustments or resets if any issues arise.

Thermofrost Cryo

27 March 2020 - We are fully operational at Thermofrost Cryo, most of our employees are working remotely and we are still receiving and dispatching orders.

Trane

25 March 2020 - Business is as usual with Trane presently operating with a skeleton crew throughout each of its UK offices. A majority of staff are working from home and remain readily available by mobile or email. Every sales engineer is continuing to operate in the field following Trane's EHS policies and the current Government guidelines. As the situation is fluid with new information every day, Trane will continue to monitor for potential impact across its scope of activities and reach out to every customer should anything change.

Waterloo

03 April 2020 - Waterloo air products is still operational across all departments and is continuing to support its customers, taking orders, manufacturing and delivering product where customer's sites remain open. Currently there are no increases in product lead times and the logistics network is delivering its standard next day service.

Wolseley UK

25 March 2020 - We continue to make adjustments to our operations so that we can support our customers at this time for essential break-fix, infrastructure and maintenance in hospitals, nursing homes, supermarkets, schools, homes and utilities, all critical to the operational stability and wellbeing of the UK.

From 25 March 2020 we will reduce opening hours from 7.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday. Orders can still be placed for delivery overnight.

From 28 March 2020 Wolseley UK branches will be closed on Saturdays (Plumbing & Heating, Building Services & Cooling branches).

The Wolseley customer support centre will continue with its current hours (7.30am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Saturday and 10am to 1pm Sunday). The website remains open 24-7 and our Distribution Centres continue to operate safely to fulfil essential orders.

Trade counter doors will be closed, however pre-orders can be collected from the safest point on the site. Please refer to specific instructions at your local branch to inform us of your arrival and the location of the temporary collection point which enables maximum social distancing.

We request that you call ahead to confirm collection time. Please ensure strict adherence to social distancing rules.

We have temporarily closed a number of branches and these are detailed here: www.wolseley.co.uk/coronavirus-update/