Coronavirus: social distancing & service update
Updated to reflect additional Government advice on symptoms: 18th May 2020
First published: 1st April 2020
Our number one priority is health and safety and we have implemented measures in response to coronavirus to ensure we keep everyone safe whilst also supporting our customers’ vital role in the food supply chain.
Our actions include a range of measures across grain trading, agronomy, crop production and logistics to protect everyone’s safety and safeguard business continuity. This update outlines some of our actions to demonstrate how we’re acting responsibly but still with our customers’ interests in mind. Crop protection deliveries & grain collections/deliveries
Our logistics team continues to offer a normal service for vital crop protection products and grain collections/deliveries but strict social distancing and hygiene measures are in place.
Customer collection of crop protection products
We encourage customers to use our delivery service but where this is not possible we are still open for customer collections from our crop protection stores but observing the following strict procedure:
- Customers must phone our store in advance to allow the site team pick and prepare the order for collection.
- During that call the customer will be asked to confirm that they (or anyone in their household) are not experiencing coronavirus symptoms i.e. a new continuous cough, or a fever, or a loss or changed sense of normal smell or taste (anosmia)
- If the customer or someone in their household is experiencing symptoms we will not permit collection and will deliver the order to the customer’s chemical store instead
- Customers without symptoms will be advised to arrive at site and park in a designated customer collection parking area and wait for the order to be brought out to them
- The customer should remain in their vehicle while Frontier staff load their order on their behalf
- Anyone with coronavirus symptoms, or who lives in a household with someone with symptoms, will not be allowed onto a Frontier site.
Social distancing, hygiene and isolation
All of our colleagues who can work from home, are now doing so. In just over one week some 450 colleagues who usually work at one of our sites, are now set up to work from home.
We have ceased all non-essential face to face contact. All commercial teams will continue to provide a full service to customers as they are equipped to keep in touch via phone, email and video; rather than face to face meetings in person. Agronomists are still field walking and making recommendations to their farmer customers and other essential services are still being provided by lone workers e.g. soil sampling.
All of our colleagues are regularly reminded to follow the Public Health England guidance to wash their hands frequently for 20 seconds and to maintain a distance of at least two metres from all other people.
We are complying with all Government guidance about self-isolation in relation to those with symptoms and those classified as vulnerable.
Keeping in touch with us during this period
- You will always find the latest information on our response to coronavirus and support for you here: www.frontierag.co.uk/coronavirus
- Customer events: In line with Government guidance we have postponed all customer meetings including our summer open days. Rest assured we will use technology in order to share knowledge from our 3DThinking trials network – more communication on this to come.
- MyFarm is a great tool for managing your account, keeping an eye on the grain market, accessing satellite imagery of your farm and much more. All Frontier, SOYL and Kings customers have a free MyFarm account. You can register here.
- Subscribe to our blog where we share regular market updates – including Frontrunner – and technical advice.
Most importantly, our agronomists, farm traders, Kings or SOYL advisors and the wider Frontier support team are here to help – please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need support.
Our aim throughout is to deliver a full service and support to farmer customers and consumers. We will share more service updates in due course, particularly on our approach to sharing knowledge and the use of technology. We hope this will help our customers navigate the weeks and months ahead.
Thank you to all our customers and industry partners for their understanding and continued support in these unprecedented times.
Kind regards
Andrew Flux
Group Commercial Strategy Director
