Redrow chairman Steve Morgan
Housebuilder Redrow is to restart construction work in May, after closing down its sites on 27 March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The firm plans to start mobilising sites from 11 May, with a “phased return” to construction on 18 May.
During the mobilisation phase, it will put “robust” social distancing protocols and physical measures in place, which it has been developing during the lockdown.
Redrow said it will have an e-learning module for all Redrow employees, induction videos for contractors, appointed ‘covid supervisors’ for each site and enhanced signage and PPE.
It will also harness technology to communicate remotely with contractors and customers and use tablet-based quality management system records to monitor work and notify contractors of any issues that need to be addressed.
But Redrow warned that net reservation levels have been running at “very low levels” since the lockdown was imposed and that in order to return to more normal trading conditions, government advice about moving home, which currently recommends deferring any move unless there is no alternative, would need to be relaxed.
The firm said it expected its net debt at the end of June to be around £200m, while it has extended its revolving credit facility to £350m and been accepted under the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) with a limit of £300m. It also has an order book of over £1.3bn, of which £900m is contracted.
John Tutte, executive chairman said: “The safety and welfare of our workforce and customers is our main priority. I am grateful to my colleagues and our supply chain partners for the exceptional work they continue to undertake to ensure we can make a measured, responsible and safe return to work next month”.
