International timber re-opening production sites

The re-opening, which began on May 4, follows work by the company to introduce extensive new health and safety procedures at the manufacturing sites, including social distancing, new cleaning regimes and PPE.

“We have always sought to balance the needs of our customers with the safety of our employees and the protection of their health,” the company said.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our team, which led to the closure of International Timber sites several weeks ago, in line with many Saint-Gobain businesses. The days since have been used to assess how best to safely serve our customer base during these difficult and challenging times.”

Operations will be at a reduced production capacity to ensure the company can meet guidance on social distancing.

“As customer demand increases, we will carefully increase our capacities and in time return to more typical lead-times.”

International Timber’s parent company Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland says it is gradually reopening its businesses with new ways of working and processes to ensure staff and customers are safe.

A managed collection service will be available from some brands and new processes have been put in place for safe collections. Customers who have pre-ordered will be directed to specific parking areas on arrival at a branch.

Their order will be waiting for them. Customers will load their own goods; assistance will only be offered if the two-metre distance can be observed. No paperwork will be exchanged between customers and colleagues.

Customers who do not have a pre-order will be asked to wait in their vehicle while a colleague takes their order from a two-metre distance. The customer will remain in their vehicle while the order is processed with payment taken over the phone.