WORKING FOR YOU IN PERTHSHIRE Lockdown time used to nail new products
Chamber’s freeoffer tosupport businesses Creating wooden solutions for workspaces
Perthshire Chamber of Commerce has launched two new membership initiatives to help hard-pressed local businesses which have been impacted by the sharp economic downturn.
It is offering free initial three months’ membership to new members as part of its drive to extend its support services across the region.
At the same time, existing members will receive 15 months’membership rather than their normal 12 months when they renew.
Perthshire Chamber has been particularly active during the coronavirus pandemic in representing the interests of hundreds of local businesses.
It has been engaging with Perth and Kinross Council, the Scottish and UK governments, as well as the Bank of England and other organisations.
The chamber has also been delivering an extensive schedule of free webinars and building a bank of valuable business tools, in many cases, generously provided by local companies who are keen to help fellow businesses survive during these challenging times.
These initiatives accompany the launch of the chamber’s recovery and resilience programme, which will include contributors from key sectors, and large and small businesses across urban and rural Perthshire.
It plans to mobilise and capture the strength of the local business community to share skills, experience and expertise – to build relationships, confidence, resilience and success.
The next stage in the programme will be a concentrated period of research gathering and then the presentation of the evidence and framework through which to deliver the outcomes.
Partnership and strong working relationships at all levels will be key.
Perthshire Chamber represents all sizes of business in any sector and, in a true reflection of the area we operate in, sole or micro businesses make up around 85 per cent of the membership, but also reaches right up to the area’s largest employers.
The chamber is supporting all businesses at this time and can be contacted on info@perthshirechabmer. co.uk or 01738 448325.
Opening a new manufacturing facility the week before Scotland went into lockdown might seem to have been very unlucky timing.
But that’s exactly what happened to specialist remanufacturing business Kinross Wooden Products.
Rather than viewing this enforced downtime as a negative situation, the management team have focused strongly on the positives looking at what they could do now to prepare for the “new normal”.
Managing director Kirsteen Ross said: “Having to close the doors only a few days after we opened was disappointing but we have used the time proactively and developed an exciting, brand new range of products which will offer our clients solutions and options that we are sure will be beneficial for new ways of working when they re-open after lockdown.”
The company has two key product lines - remanufactured office furniture and bespoke garden offices.
Kirsteen continued: “Our remanufactured products provide options for employers as they seek ways to safeguard their workforce.
“Organisations will either need additional desks that are suitable for staff to work from home, or smaller desks within the office to enable greater social distancing between staff whilst they move around the office, or possibly fewer desks in the office.
“We can support employers to manage necessary changes in their office and working environments through our remanufactured ranges and office design capabilities to enable them to adapt as needed.
“We can also design and supply garden offices for those that will continue with homebased working and need a suitable environment to do so safely.”
Operations director John Ross said: “We have quickly established safe working practices within our manufacturing facility which has allowed us to restart work.
“Measures include designated workspace and tools, cleaning processes for shared equipment and maintaining social distancing through working at different times.
“We have also included the installation of a camera to monitor the safety of workers if they are alone in the building.”
John said much of the company’s administration is being done from home with regular company catch-ups and daily briefings via video calls.
“Whilst everything has changed, we are confident that we have got sufficient measures in place that will enable us to continue our planned expansion after lockdown ends,” he added.
Since lockdown began, the company has continued to work with clients to gain their inputs on design and practical requirements for office furniture and the ‘new’ office environment.
The company is recognised as a major innovator in remanufacturing office furniture and the directors are regular contributors and speakers for circular economy webinars and online discussion groups.
Their positive approach helped them engage with new purchasers across the public sector.
Kirsteen continued: “John was recently a guest speaker on a webinar organised by Perthshire Chamber of Commerce. Within a couple of days we were contacted by a senior procurement manager for a local authority, who had watched the webinar, asking for more information on what we can do to remanufacture their existing desks to meet their new size requirements.
“We were able to send over some information to them followed up with a short video showing exactly how we would carry out the remanufacturing work. This has now turned into a serious enquiry for a large contract as soon as lockdown is lifted.”
Our products provide options for employers as they seek ways to safeguard their workforce Kirsteen Ross