CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 - Updated 18th March 2020
I would like to update you all with regards to the effect of the current health crisis and the activities of all Centura Group operations.
Centura and its operating businesses is a private company. It is owned by its shareholders all of whom work within the business. It relies on the support of all its clients, stakeholders, its’ bankers and most importantly its employees.
Centura derives all its income from construction activities. Most of those activities take place on open air construction sites and as of today there are no government guidelines that suggest that those activities must stop. So provided we can continue working on site we will receive income from our sales and we should be able to carry on as a business and of course as an employer. It is inevitable that our business may not be as efficient as normal. There may be supply chain difficulties, there may be a delay in sourcing materials or plant. There may well be labour resourcing issues. We have experienced all of these problems in the past and continued trading. So as long as we are not asked to stop our site activities we will get through this difficult period.
Centura Group has always recognised the need to provide a safe and vibrant workplace. It also recognises that its staff have a life outside of work with all of the social and financial pressures. In accordance with current guidelines we will facilitate home working wherever possible. We will also help and support any vulnerable employees who may need to change their working arrangements. But we will always follow national guidelines. The Directors and Senior Managers will continue to do whatever is within their power to maintain our workplace and ensure the safety of our staff.
I need all of you to help those managers in whatever way you can. We must try to maintain maximum productivity on site. This is where we earn our income. We need to examine all our costs and decide whether or not they are essential. Do not authorise any expenditure unless it is absolutely necessary. There will be no paid overtime for salaried staff, any overtime worked will need to be taken as time off in lieu. With that in mind please ensure that operative overtime is kept to an absolute minimum. Please check all plant on site and if it is not required, off hire it. For vehicle drivers I need you to limit your fuel usage. I also need you to be frugal and reasonable with your mobile phone costs.
I will approve all proposals to employ new salaried staff. We may need to recruit on site and I ask our site management teams to be sensible about adding employees to our wage bill.
When planning and tendering for new projects please avoid any payment arrangements that fall outside of “normal” terms. Please remember that cash is king and we cannot afford to bank roll our clients, no matter how tempting the opportunity may be. If there are any doubts about our clients’ creditworthiness then please ask the finance team to check and report. We do not want to be in a contract with poor payment terms or worse, a bad debt.
We are a close-knit team at Centura and we have supported and developed the careers of many people. We work well together and in CRL we have developed the most brilliant team in more than 65 years of trading. I would like you all to think about that. I want each of you to think how you may help out to enable us to get through this difficult time. We may all need to make sacrifices. Please think what you can give back to the business.
I have not mentioned anything about detailed medical issues. The Government Guidelines and advice have been circulated separately as they have been published. We will continue to follow those Government Guidelines to the letter.
With the support of all of you we will get through this crisis.
Thank You
Tony Rimoldi
Group Chief Executive