UPDATED 9th July 2021
Safety, health and well-being of our people
At Victrex, the safety, health and well-being of all our employees is the highest priority. We established a COVID-19 committee at the start of 2020 and continue to take appropriate precautions and remain proactive in our approach.
Chemicals as an essential industry
The UK government defines Chemicals as an essential industry with essential workers, with Victrex also having a long-standing history in supporting many critical and “life-sustaining” applications, particularly in Medical. In the US, we continue to operate on an ongoing modified basis, defined as being a ‘life-sustaining’ organisation in several states. Overall, our supply chain continues to function effectively with high service levels for our customers.
Return to site
Overall, over two-thirds of our global employees remain homeworking although our Return to Site plans are in development, varied by region:
- Our China technical centre has been open since Autumn 2020
- Our US offices and manufacturing facilities saw a greater Return to Site at the start of July 2021
- In the UK, whilst our manufacturing, supply chain and logistics teams have been operating on site to fulfil the needs of our customers, we are targeting a greater Return to Site for office based employees from September 2021
- Plans for Return to Site in our European team are also in development
Risk assessments for Return to Site are only in consultation and approval through our COVID-19 committee.
Security of supply for customers and pricing
Overall our employees, including those customer-facing, remain contactable as normal by phone and email in home offices, ready to serve customers. Some limited travel to customers is occuring globally, mainly in China, although we anticipate a greater proportion of travel to customers in the US and eventually Europe in the near future.
Our raw material and finished goods stocks remain appropriate at the current time for our customers, with global warehouses able to supplement our production. Nearly 100% of our customer deliveries have been on time in full (OTIF) since the onset of COVID-19.
Victrex has always offered price stability and has a world-class track record of security of supply for our customers.
Nevertheless to maintain the level of service our customers are accustomed to and better align the evolution of demand with escalating costs and availability of raw materials and logistics services, we will need to adjust pricing.
We will also ask customers to work rigorously with us to ensure an accurate picture of future demand is understood and integral to the supply plan
Communities
Victrex already has a strong track record of supporting our communities wherever we operate globally. To date, we have seen community volunteering, the manufacture of 3D printed masks and manufacture of ear savers for masks from recycled material in one of our facilities. We continue to play our part.