Open menu COVID RESPONSE Over the course of the pandemic, management has acted to protect staff wellbeing; adjust operations to changing levels of demand; and to continue investment for the post-Covid-19 economic recovery RESPONSIBLY MANAGING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PRIORITISING SAFETY AND SUPPORTING CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS AND COMMUNITIES DURING THE PANDEMIC Employee wellbeing and workplace safety In the early weeks of the pandemic the priority for the Group was to ensure staff were able to work safely. Vulnerable staff were shielded until working practices and plant layouts had been amended to meet revised safety guidelines. The plant in Hubei Province was closed for two months from February 2020 with staff retained on full pay. All other plants remained open, with some minor supply disruptions and occasional absences for isolation. Business continuity Spending was reduced across the Group. Ordinarily, a combination of overtime and temporary or subcontracted staff is used to give operational flexibility, but these arrangements were adjusted to amend capacity. By the end of financial year 2020 the Group’s workforce had reduced by 13%. INVESTING RESPONSIBLY FOR THE FUTURE The Group took measures to ensure it would emerge robustly from the pandemic. It continued to undertake sensible capital expenditure, either to meet anticipated demand, increase margins or improve quality. Projects to improve process automation and visual inspection continued unchanged and investments in capacity for diagnostic filters and microplates were made to bring on extra capacity to meet demand. DEPLOYING OUR EXPERTISE AND WORKING COLLABORATIVELY The Group has been able to support the fight against the pandemic in a number of ways In the early stages, the Group: Produced filters and other components for several of the UK consortia that developed hospital breathing apparatus. Contributed in a small way to provision of personal protective equipment, by using its development 3D printers to make components for face masks. Latterly, the Group has seen increasing demand for: Pipette tip filters and microplates used in the diagnostic analysis of Covid-19 samples. Porous plastic vents used in some of the Covid-19 analysis instruments. Capital investments are being made to scale up the Group capacity to meet this demand. STAY IN TOUCH Keep up to date on social media ANNUAL REPORT Read Porvair PLC latest report published March 20th 2021 Download OUR DIVISIONS Aerospace & Industrial Laboratory Metal Melt Quality EMAIL ALERTS Sign up to our newsletter Sign up PENSION SCHEME Pension Plan SIP Pension scheme engagement policy FOOTER Disclaimer Privacy Cookie Policy Accessibility Terms & Conditions Site Map Cookie Settings Copyright@2021