In this brief internal briefing, the speaker informs OFEX staff that operations remain "business as usual" despite the emerging COVID‑19 situation. The update outlines contingency staffing plans: Emily may be unavailable due to school closures, so James will continue handling orders, while the speaker and Simon will rotate in to support him physically or morally. It also addresses logistics: instructions will be emailed to couriers and Royal Mail to use safe drop‑off locations, and staff are advised that parcels are not a transmission risk. The speaker recommends shifting to UK manufacturers where possible for faster, cost‑effective production and quality control, and suggests using box shipments rather than containers if domestic sourcing isn’t feasible. Finally, the speaker notes expected postal delays to the Far East and Italy due to flight disruptions and invites questions.
Chapters
Good morning. I just wanted to let you know what's happening here at OFEX. At the moment, it's very much business as usual, so there aren't any changes whatsoever. We're just continuing carrying on. Obviously, we are aware that at some stage the schools are likely to close. The main person that that will affect is going to be Emily. She has two children who are of school age school age. Now at this stage, it might be that she can still come in because her other half may be coming in, staying at home anyway. So we'll keep you posted on that. But at the moment, it's very much business as usual. James has been told under strict instructions to stay well, and he has actually managed to get 400 orders out of the warehouse on his own previously. So no, but we won't put him up to to that, don't worry. So me and Simon will be coming in if Emily has to stay at home. Me and Simon will be coming in and alternating to support James, either physical help, hands-on help, or just moral support. So we will keep you updated. There are obviously going to be some things that we need to email you about with regards to supply chains and also the delivery network. So we're going to just quickly send an email out about that now because people are starting to not want to sign for things. So we need to make sure that there are safe places that are put in the instructions for the courier companies and Royal Mail. And also obviously supply chains, we need to get things in, either swap manufacturers to the UK, which is what some customers have already done and they've actually found it really cost-effective because of the lead times and the smaller quantities they have to have things produced in, but also the quality control side of things. So it might be something worth looking into. If that's not an option, then don't Don't bring anything in on a container. Get it all sent in on a box or boxes because the postal networks are all working fine. There is no evidence to suggest that coronavirus can actually exist on letters and parcels, so very much get things through the post. Clearly, with the flights being slightly— understatement— disrupted, there are going to be some delays in the postal system, particularly to the Far East, and obviously we're getting updates in terms of what's happening in Italy for deliveries and things like that. We'll keep you posted, um, and, um, yeah, please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Okay, from now, bye for now.
