Better, smarter, pack: reflecting on COVID-19

Alasdair Waugh, Managing Director at Universal Wolf, talks about how our values have helped to carry us through the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we come out of the other side of lockdown and start to see life return to a semblance of normality – albeit very much a ‘new normal’ – it seems like a good time to reflect on the past few months at Universal Wolf.

I joined Universal Wolf from Tharsus, our sister company. I arrived to find a business which was proactively addressing the challenges posed by COVID, to ensure it could keep servicing its key worker customers.

There was a lot of pride throughout the business when we were given the opportunity to support the NHS; manufacturing beds which were destined for the Nightingale hospitals in Glasgow and Birmingham. It was important for our retained staff to feel they were making a difference; and doing something that provided a tangible benefit to society. It gave us all a sense of purpose in our work at what was an unsettling and emotionally trying time.

At Universal Wolf, we are driven by our values: Better, Smarter, Pack. Our ethos is that we are greater together than the sum of our parts, and everyone has a contribution to make to the wider business effort.

I have seen the team pull together to protect their colleagues, make positive suggestions, and embrace the new challenges presented by COVID. They have adapted to new ways of working – from embracing Microsoft Teams, to ensure continued communication and collaboration when teams are physically distant; to working altered shifts and staggered breaks, to changes in site layout and facilities to allow for social distancing at all times.

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, we finished June on a record turnover – a true team effort.

My thanks go out to my colleagues at Universal Wolf for their hard work and determination over the last few months, and I look forward to the journey ahead.