The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Social enterprise gets back to business after lockdown closure
Award-winning company reopens after comprehensive health measures put in place
A council-owned social enterprise providing employment for people with disabilities in Peterborough is back in business.
The award-winning Westcombe Engineering, in Westcombe Square, Royce Road, closed after the Government’s lockdown was announced on March 23.
But following a comprehensive risk assessment by owners Peterborough City Council, the not-for-profit business, which has 23 employees, has just reopened.
The return of staff is being carried out in phases with 80 per cent of staff now back in the workplace.
Councillor John Holdich, the council leader, said: “Westcombe has changed the lives of so many skilled and talented disabled people, their families and communities and I am pleased that has continued in the most uncertain of times.
To enable the reopening, managers have introduced sweeping changes to working practises to ensure staff were protected including staggered lunch and tea breaks, hygiene stations, regular team discussions, additional changing rooms and toilets, spacing out lockers, stopping people clocking in and out and only allowing essential visitors on site.”
Westcombe Engineering, which is a supplier of precision engineered parts, is currently enjoying its busiest period since its creation in 1970, securing new orders for existing customers Caterpillar Inc and Advanced Handling.
It is developing equipment for supermarkets to allow deep cleans, engine parts for boats, plus engine parts to convert American schoolbuses to electric.