West-Bromwich based chemical manufacturers Robinson Brothers have come in for a great deal of thanks from their local community for their huge generosity and impressive agility in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As soon as it became clear in the early part of 2020 that Covid-19 was going to be a serious issue, Robinson Brothers decided they would do everything they could to help. Within a few weeks, they had altered their output to produce thousands of litres of hand sanitiser for the local community.
They managed to produce and donate over 6,000 litres of hand sanitiser to staff, their families and schools, hospitals and care homes within the area.
It was a huge effort that required the input of all 300 hundred staff members, who were simultaneously having to deal with the demand of producing a brand new product and adhering to all the new Covid regulations.
Unsurprisingly, the local community responded with heartfelt thank yous to everyone involved and this, for managing director Adrian Hanrahan, was a humbling moment.
He told ITN Productions, who covered the story (see video below), that the thank yous have made everyone at Robinson Brothers ‘feel ten feet tall,’ adding, ‘For somebody to take the time to say “we really needed that, thanks very much” it really does pull on the heartstrings. It reminds you that there really is a lot of good left in the world.’
Hanrahan passed on some thank yous of his own, specifically to the 300-strong workforce who had made it all possible, ‘for stepping up, keeping the pressure on and not bending under the pressure.’
His appreciation for his employees is clearly demonstrated by the strong emphasis the company places on mental wellbeing.
The company has a ‘How are you?’ initiative that encourages everyone to ask this question of their colleagues and make sure they stop and listen to the response, with an emphasis placed on the idea that ‘it’s alright to be not alright.’
‘It’s all one team,’ says Hanrahan, ‘and without the input of every single person, all the way down the channels, we wouldn’t have come through this in the way we have.’
Photo by Caleb Chen on Unsplash
