Coronavirus: COVID 19 Statement

The recent news about the COVID-19 pandemic has been at the forefront of minds throughout the industry as it transforms all of our working and personal lives. At Sapphire we value the welfare of staff, our clients and supply chain above all else.

In light of the government’s guidance all office staff are now working from home and we have closed our head office until further notice. We will continue to manufacture balconies while strictly following government guidance regarding social distancing and hygiene. Many of our facilities have implemented multiple shifts to limit the number of staff working at any one time while maintaining production.

How does this affect clients?

Our business model has been designed with risk management at its core. Thanks to our offsite manufacture and Rigid.Ready.Right. guarantee our clients can rest assured that their balconies will be ready for delivery whenever sites need them. Through site closures and changing government guidelines we will be there to support in any way we can, including ensuring your balconies are ready and waiting.

The Ready element of our brand promise ensures that all balconies will be prefinished 1-2 months ahead of our clients’ required installation date and safely stored in our secure facilities. This means that in the current climate we have ample time to ensure the balconies are complete without impacting work on site.

Through switching all office staff to remote working we can guarantee we will be available just as before to handle your enquires and lend assistance.

We have been and continue to work closely with our supply chain partners to understand their position and ensure the continuity of our supply. Fortunately, we have a sophisticated supply chain with a range of suppliers in numerous locations around the world which allows us to shift our supply quickly and efficiently.

We sub-contract our final manufacture and assembly across 4 separate supply-partners in various locations in England which means that a crisis in one part of the country or at one of our plants does not affect our total output. Production is monitored daily allowing us to switch manufacture between plants within a short space of time.

By maintaining close connections with these partners, we can mitigate disruption and ultimately cushion our clients from any changes.

How does this affect our supply chain?

It is clear for many across the industry that the supply chain is inevitably under pressure. In these unprecedented times we are striving to support our supply chain in any way we can.

With this in mind we are maintaining contact with suppliers and offering improved payment terms on a case by case basis. We continue to make payments as agreed but invite any vulnerable suppliers in need of a review to contact us to discuss how we can work together to overcome these challenging times.

While we are facing the challenge of adapting to remote working, we just ask that suppliers bare this in mind and aid us in reaching a mutually agreed strategy for support.

How does this affect Sapphire staff?

Sapphire staff are at the core of everything we do and as we live our values we are making continued efforts to support one another and learn from the challenges of the day.

To manage the difficulties of remote working we have rolled out I.T. upgrades to all staff to ensure they can continue working with minimal disruption. Our IT infrastructure is always fully backed-up in remote locations allowing continuous and uninterrupted access.

All teams are maintaining close daily contact to keep everyone feeling encouraged, productive and valued. We intend to continue to provide this support across the business and to all look outward to support the wider community.

We are confident that we have done as much as possible to mitigate and limit the risks that the current situation poses. I believe we are well-placed to weather a potential disruption of between 1-8 weeks without jeopardising our commitment to fulfilling your requirements.

If you have any concerns please get in touch with any contact at Sapphire or contact us here

Last reviewed: 26/03/20