As we return to a new normal within the industry we felt it would be a good time to fill you in on what BJF Group has been doing in order to cope with the difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and what we are doing to futureproof the business going forwards.

In the spirit of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best from February, BJF Group assembled a COVID taskforce made up of senior managers from across the business. This team took a number of early actions as well as monitoring the ongoing situation to ensure that BJF Group adhered to all government guidance and were well-equipped to cope with the difficulties in the short, medium and longer term.

Our short-term plan to enable all of our office team to work remotely was in full swing long before lockdown. We had already invested in the required technology and were able to rapidly adapt to the change by adopting a virtual set up. The upsides of this go beyond safety and have also decreased our carbon emissions via travel. We also moved quickly to create new safe working procedures for sites to remain operational where it was safe and possible to do so.

As a number of our projects and contracts are for services such as the Ministry of Defence, HM prisons, NHS hospitals and schools we had to make sure that we could safely continue the operations that support our valued key workers.

We have been directly involved with a number of our clients in preparing them for a safe return to work including the installation of protective screens in retail stores and offices and have also completed projects within hospitals to ensure that they were able to cope with an influx of critical care patients. More info on these projects coming soon.

Moving forward with our medium-term plan we have introduced a number of measures within our offices and on our sites to ensure the continued safety of our people including:

  • Investing in electrostatic spray cleaning equipment to allow regular deep cleaning of our sites and offices with an antibacterial mist which is proven to kill 99.99% of bacteria and viruses on most surfaces. This has provided extra protection and assurance for those unable to work remotely.
  • Temperature testing for everyone entering a BJF Group site
  • Social distancing signage and markings
  • Continued remote working wherever possible using various technologies
  • Installing protective screens between desks for those that need to work from the offices
  • Increased hygiene measures in offices and on sites such as portable sanitising stations and antibacterial door handle coverings

We are proud to say that by acting quickly and decisively we were able to maintain a level of service to those clients that needed us most and we have received multiple letters of thanks for the work of our staff and teams for continuing to support our clients and work safety during these difficult times.

Our long-term plan is well under way and will ensure that the business is best positioned to deal with the rapidly changing landscape.