How Cunningham was able to adapt to the changes and new landscape that came with the COVID19 crisis
How Cunningham adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020 the world was hit with a crisis in the form of COVID-19, a highly contagious and life-threatening virus. This led to many countries going into a state of lockdown with people only able to leave their homes for very limited purposes. The advice issued by many governments in countries such as the UK and Ireland was that any ‘non-essential’ businesses should close to help prevent the spread of the virus and allow the countries’ healthcare systems to cope.
This led to an ever-increasing demand for the protection of workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle, who were providing services such as hospitals, pharmacies, shops, couriers etc. Initially many businesses opted to go clear Perspex or acrylic screens. As many of the suppliers of this material were based in the Far East meant that there was a shortage of Perspex material in the UK with long lead times as outlined in an article by BBC.
As many of Cunningham’s regular customers and sectors were now closed due to the lockdown restrictions, Cunningham sought out ways of how they could adapt their workforce and product offering to meet the increased demand for protection in the workplace.
Cunningham were able to engineer a clever protective solution for this by creating clear flexible PVC protective screens as an alternative that can be easily adapted to any application whether it’s in a shop, pharmacy or production floor. The screens allowed employees to feel safe in their workplace while they carried out essential work by mitigating the spread of disease.
As some lockdown restrictions began to be lifted Cunningham looked at ways that they could help sectors back to work. Looking initially at how workers will actually travel to work while still practicing social distancing led to the creation of screens that can be used within vehicles such as vans, refuge lorries and more. These allowed multiple workers to be in the same vehicle and still be protected.
From a business prospective, Cunningham saw the long-term advantages of providing these services. By allowing businesses to socially distance and get back to work this would allow regular business to resume. With an increase in new customers coming to the business for protective screens it gave Cunningham an opportunity to showcase their capabilities and product offerings so that they could turn new customers into repeat and loyal customers.
COVID-19 has brought a lot of sadness, unknowing and uncertainty. One positive that Cunningham has been able to take is that they have a drive to succeed as an innovative and forward-thinking business even in tough times such as these.
Click here to learn more about the protection range available from Cunningham Covers
