At Carlsberg UK our priority is the health and wellbeing of our employees, suppliers and customers and everyone we work with.

We’re taking steps to safeguard health and wellbeing, business continuity and service and supply to our customers. These are of course small steps and we’ll aim to do more, but hopefully collective efforts will start to make a difference.

For our employees we have:

• Shared twice daily communications on the status of COVID-19 including advice from the government and public health, to keep them informed
• Ensured all employees who are able, are set up to work from home
• Focused on the wellbeing of all of our employees and especially those working from home who may not be used to it
• Understandably, increased site cleaning, access to hand sanitisers and restricted external visitors on site

For our customers we have:

• Frozen payments for customers who rent our CQDS draught dispense, incur monthly hand pull charges, or rent CO₂ bottles, starting March
• Asked our sales team not to make personal visits, to help safeguard everyone’s health and wellbeing, but remain available for any questions or queries
• Kept our Customer Contact Centre operational with contingency plans in place, and encouraged use of our digital platform, Carls Shop. Access is quick and easy, simply click here.
• Encouraged customers to review the Chancellor’s recent support packages for businesses to see what opportunities are available

For our local community, in Northampton:

•  We have made available around £10,000 for the Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, which will make funds available to those that need help most in the local community
• This fund remains open to all local businesses or individuals to donate - more information here.

In partnership with our suppliers we are:

• Working collaboratively and foresee no issues to continuity of supply to any of our customers that rely on our products
• Having regular dialogue and have full contingency plans in place
• Not seeing foreseeable issues to stock or materials

In partnership with our industry:

• Pubs are at the centre of communities and we have a world-class brewing industry, both of which have been a key part of UK society for hundreds of years
• As a sector, we employ 900,000 people and contribute £23bn to the UK economy, these jobs and that economic contribution are in jeopardy
• We’re united with the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) in calling for the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak and wider government, to move quickly with its offer of support by making funds available in 24 hours, not weeks
• As such, we call for strong and decisive action and lend our support to the requests that BBPA has made of the Chancellor on behalf of beer, pubs and hospitality – more here.

And finally… proudly sharing good news from the Carlsberg foundation

• The Carlsberg foundations have donated DKK 95 million (approx. £11m) in response to COVID-19, with recipients including three internationally recognised Coronavirus research teams
• As our majority shareholder, the Carlsberg foundation donates all dividends to basic fundamental science as well as societal causes.
• Find out more about the donation here.

As for everyone, the COVID-19 situation remains challenging and fast changing, so we’ll be flexible in our approach.

Right now, we’re thinking of all of our employees, our suppliers, our customers and our local communities during these challenging times.

Tomek Blawat,
Managing Director, Carlsberg UK