SBS During Lockdown
With lockdown restrictions slowly easing, and the industry beginning to work its way back up to full capacity, Smith Brothers has taken some time to reflect on, and celebrate, some of the success stories and progress made during these past few months.
Supporting critical sectors
During the early stages of lockdown, Smith Brothers followed government advice and implemented measures to ensure the business could remain operational and available to support supply to critical sectors. This included implementing social distancing measures and increased cleaning whilst restricting unnecessary travel and temporarily reducing staffing numbers through the governments furlough scheme – all steps to help significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission to both staff and customers.
Right – Supplying contractors working on essential buildings, such as Nightingale hospitals.
Staff achievements during furloughed leave
Whilst Smith Brothers branches remained open throughout the lockdown period with reduced staffing numbers, many SBS staff members were placed on furloughed leave until the restrictions were lifted.
Some SBS staff members used their time to complete their education training whilst on leave. Marketing officer Emma Purday completed her Level 4 Digital Marketing apprenticeship, whilst Spencer Truscott, Health and Safety operations supervisor, completed his Level 6 Diploma in Applied Health and Safety with NCRQ National Compliance and Risk Qualifications. Both fantastic achievements!
Staff members also took the opportunity to increase their product knowledge by partaking in remote training sessions, ran by supplier representatives from Terrain, Viega, Victaulic, IMI Hydronic, Elysator, Flamco and Aquabion. The feedback from these sessions has been extremely positive.
The general well-being of all Smith Brothers staff members has been a priority throughout lockdown which is why SBS Mental Health First Aiders have been available to offer initial support to both furloughed staff members and those remaining at work. As SBS staff members continue to return to work, we will continue to ensure measures are in place to keep both staff and customers safe.
Looking to the future
Despite the economic challenges the industry continues to face, Smith Brothers have remained optimistic about the future.
After the great success of 2019’s branch relocations at Rainham, Oldham and Birmingham; SBS Southampton will be the next branch to relocate to a larger 25,000 sq ft premises in the near future. The increased operational capacity will help satisfy the increased demand at the branch and will enable staff to offer an even better service to customers. Further information will follow in the coming months.
