COVID-19: Trailer manufacturer Don-Bur hibernates and furloughs workforce

Trailer manufacturer Don-Bur has put the business on ice for the next three weeks and furloughed the majority of its workforce.

The move aims to ensure staff and customer safety during the COVI-19 pandemic and comes in the light of 5.4% of the company’s 500-strong staff having gone into precautionary self-isolation.

In a statement the manufacturer, based in Stoke-on-Trent, said it is hoping to re-open on 14 April.

It added: “This means that the main manufacturing plant and service depots are now closed and the majority of the workforce is now furloughed.

"A support team are still working from home and some staff are available for service support to ensure critical business continuity.”

Speaking to motortransport.co.uk, Richard Owens, Don-Bur group marketing manager, said: “The nature of our business means that we are highly dependent on people working in close proximity. We have 30 staff already in precautionary self-isolation, so we decided it just wasn’t fair on the workforce and that going into hibernation for a few weeks was the best solution.”

Owens said the majority of the workforce will be furloughed. However he expressed concern about the lack of details available on the government’s furlough scheme.

Announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week, the scheme will see the government fund 80% of the wages of employees temporarily laid off during theCOVI-19 outbreak.

The aim of the scheme is to avoid mass redundancies during the pandemic.

“It is hard to get clear information on the scheme. No one seems to know the details. We called HMRC to ask if the furlough payments are pre or post PAYE and National Insurance payments and they had no idea,” he said.

Don-Bur has informed all clients of its decision to temporarily close.

Owens said: “The vast majority were extremely understanding. We are not alone in this. The industry has overwhelmingly gone into hibernation. The phones are dead. Some customers are preferring to postpone their orders. So what we are doing makes sense.”