Covid-19 Update: 24.3.20

“Is chocolate essential? Should we be closing?”

In his broadcast yesterday evening, the Prime Minister was unambiguously clear that we must dramatically ratchet up our efforts to socially distance and prevent the spread of the virus. While his message to the general public was absolutely clear, we are picking up that there is quite a bit of confusion about what exactly that means for those of you in the chocolate and ice cream sectors.

To help you take the difficult decision on whether you should continue trading or close temporarily, we recommend you read the following, very useful, government guidance which was updated today (please click on the link below).

Guidance: Further businesses and premises to close

When it comes to food, which would normally include chocolate, in general it seems clear that the Government is discouraging any form of eating out (which includes restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars) but is encouraging any form of eating in (which includes food delivery, takeaway).

The guidance is also clear that non-essential businesses and premises must now shut, but there are a number of exceptions. Here are a few that stood out for us:

• Online retail is still open and encouraged and postal and delivery service will run as normal.
• Supermarkets and food shops and corner shops can remain open
• Takeaway and delivery facilities should remain operational

For those that do remain open, there is the following guidance…

Retail and public premises which we expect to remain open must:

• Ensure a distance of two metres between customers and shop assistants; and
• Let people enter the shop only in small groups, to ensure that spaces are not crowded.
• Queue control is required outside of shops and other essential premises that remain open.

And for takeaway and delivery facilities…

• People must not consume food or drinks on site at restaurants, cafes or pubs whilst waiting for takeaway food,

What’s Happening at Keylink?

As a supplier to businesses across many sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, retail, mail order, leisure and foodservice, many of our customers have been forced to temporarily close their businesses but many others continue to trade.

We therefore have an obligation to remain operational and support those of our customers who continue to trade, whilst protecting the welfare of our employees and adhering to all government guidelines to prevent transmission in the workplace.

These measures will also include temporarily reducing our staff numbers to the minimum required and to help us in this, we encourage you to place your orders online as much as possible. However if you do need or want to talk to us, then do call.

Sanjeev P Ramchandani
Managing Director