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A couple of weeks ago, Mila announced a weekly delivery service to help those customers who were still working on commercial projects. Since then, the trickle of orders coming into Mila has steadily increased and we’ve now upped that weekly service to 48-hours for any orders received via sales@mila.co.uk by 3pm every day.
From this week, if you place an order with us on Monday, you can expect to receive it on Wednesday and if you place an order on Tuesday, you will receive it on Thursday etc. We’re still operating with a skeleton team picking, packing and despatching in our warehouse, but we’re gradually bringing people back into operations and I’m cautiously optimistic that we will see even more returning over the coming weeks.
Talking to customers, there seems to be a relatively strong consensus that most will be returning to work in some form between 11th and 18th May. The constraints of social distancing and how to manage that within the factory, as well as uncertainty about the level of demand, means that the majority are planning to restart with only around 50% of their workforce. However, they tell me this will ramp up fairly quickly once the furlough scheme comes to end and Mila will certainly be aligning our capacity in response to that.
It’s obvious that we’ve all got a bit more time to look at social platforms and online magazines at the moment, so I hope you’ve noticed that Mila has been very active in communicating what we’re doing in response to the planned return to work and putting out as much helpful information as we can to support our customers and the wider market
As well as the ERIC safe working protocols which I outlined in my last post, which our Health & Safety Manager Joe Montague has shared online, our Finance Director James Kiernan has also been giving his perspective on the financial challenges which businesses face – not just in accessing financial support but in navigating a route out of lockdown.
It’s interesting that what James is advocating above all else is communicating – talking to customers and suppliers about orders, supply levels and payment terms. I know that this is what is informing Mila’s plans around how we move forward and, while there hasn’t been an entirely coordinated return to work, it is encouraging to see just how much the industry seems to be talking and listening at the moment
Obviously, if you want to get in touch with me or any of the team here at Mila, we have a dedicated email address at help@mila.co.uk or you can contact us via our social platforms too – Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
