Sourcing everything from personal protective equipment to germ-killing disinfectant chemicals and handwash has been one of the over-riding problems of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Since the outbreak, Hull-based hygiene experts Elliott Hygiene have pulled out the stops to continue supporting their longstanding clients on the frontline, including food manufacturers and other key industries, care providers and Hull City Council.
And now, following the Government’s announcement of a gradual lifting of lockdown, many organisations are concerned how they can put changes representing the so-called ‘new normal’ into practice, get their people back to work and start serving customers again.
Elliott’s sees this as the moment it has been preparing for in the past 30 years, and have “moved heaven and earth in recent weeks” to ensure the team can continue to offer customers the expert guidance and support they need, coupled with unrivalled access to critical products that are in short supply elsewhere.
“We’ve been helping everyone from local farm shops to restaurants and larger food outlets in pivoting their customer sales to provide click and collect food and other grocery items and meal takeaways; as well as helping schools, offices and factories generally get back into operation,” Janette Elliott, co-director, said.
Working tirelessly with their long-established supply chains, Elliott’s has made sure it is able to access much-sought after protective masks, visors, aprons, hand sanitisers and fully compliant disinfectant cleaning products.
“I won’t deny it’s been tough,” she said. “Stocks of essential supplies like this basically dried up early in the pandemic because the Government had to procure all protective equipment which was in production at the time and re-divert it to our NHS.
“However, we’ve managed to keep our loyal customers supplied throughout and have also been working on sourcing plenty to help the many more organisations that are going to need it in the days and weeks ahead. After all, this new way of operating looks set to become a long-term change."
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Janette explained that, thanks to longstanding relationships, Elliott’s have been able to secure a pipeline for around two million pieces of PPE in total, and they are now reaching out to firms struggling to know what to do, to offer them expert help. As well as sourcing chemicals and equipment, Elliott’s regularly carries out reviews of premises in order to recommend a strategic approach to hygiene management which ensures its clients meet the highest possible standards at any time, and proves extra-valuable in a pandemic situation.
“At Elliott’s, we have lived and breathed hygiene for decades,” she said.
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“When we start working with an organisation, we have an open discussion enabling us to evaluate their whole operation and provide them with an assessment and recommendations for everything they need to do to safeguard the health of their staff and customers. We then build strong, long-term relationships, we become an extension of their management team, enabling them to adapt to emerging situations like the changes brought on by Covid-19.
“Our diligent set up and attention to detail naturally lends itself to the new Covid-secure measures the Government is talking about which, although they contain some additional steps like two-metre social distancing, essentially mirror the kind of good hygiene practice we’ve been championing for years, to safeguard people against everything from the usual seasonal flu or norovirus to this unprecedented health crisis.”
She is keen that people get the right advice, to avoid leaving themselves open to problems.
Janette said: “I’m acutely conscious that, while the experience of this pandemic has brought out the best in many people, it has also led to some unscrupulous practices going on, like firms selling things such as hand sanitiser and protective equipment that isn’t of a high enough standard, and at an inflated price.
“There will also be lots of people offering to carry out risk assessments for organisations at very high rates, which they will pay because they are frightened of falling foul of the law."