With the rapid spread of COVID-19, we are facing some challenging times in business, as individuals and as a nation. I’d like to take an opportunity to outline the measures Goval Stoves are taking to continue to meet our business commitments while following Government guidance and ensuring the safety of our staff and customers.

Firstly, we anticipate business to suffer as non-essential consumer spending drops amid the general uncertainty. We are nevertheless blessed that this challenging time coincides with the usual seasonal reduction in new enquiries whereby running at a reduced capacity is both expected and planned for. We operate the business on a cash positive basis with low overheads and are well positioned to survive many months of hardship should it occur.

Notwithstanding, until instructed otherwise our attitude is “business as usual” subject to some conditions. Existing customer installations will proceed as planned and any new enquiries will be handled in the usual manner. However, to comply with the guidelines and ensure the safety of all concerned the following changes will be made:

1. Prior to any installation or survey, we will ask customers to make us aware if anyone in the household is self-isolating, showing symptoms of illness or have been in recent contact with an infected person. Installation/survey will be postponed to a more suitable time if required.
2. Should any member of the Goval Stoves team self-isolate, show symptoms or reside in an infected home, all surveys and installation will be postponed until the recommended isolation period has elapsed.
3. Until instructed it’s safe to do so, the Goval Stoves team will politely decline handshakes with clients.
4. The Goval Stoves team will increase hygiene standards when working in your home through regular hand washing and minimising contact where possible with your fixtures/fittings/surfaces, etc
5. The Goval Stoves team will wash hands and any relevant equipment between home appointments to minimise cross contamination. For example, on survey days we often visit several homes one after another. In these circumstances we will clean hands, tape measures, etc between homes.
6. Goval Stoves provide a free no-obligation survey with acknowledgement and acceptance that some surveys don’t lead to an installation. This is part of the job and not something we are troubled by. However, during these difficult times we must take some measures to minimise unnecessary contact/visits. We do not wish to introduce any form of survey “fee” so, instead, we will conduct a pre-survey telephone interview to determine facts, figures and suitability prior to any physical visit. During this interview we aim to establish an approximate installation cost, whether that cost aligns with the client budget, when the client is looking to have the work done, etc. If both parties are satisfied there is a good potential for a client-business relationship we will proceed with a physical survey subject to the other conditions above. We appreciate this pre-qualification stage may appear a little “salesy” and hope potential clients will understand the reasons behind temporarily implementing it.
7. Further to Point 6 above, where possible or practical we may be able to conduct a survey remotely via Facetime or through the client emailing us relevant pictures and measurements.

This policy and our approach may need to change rapidly in accordance with new emerging information and instruction from Government. Our goal as a company (and as a Nation) is to slow the rate of spread of the virus to allow the NHS and other UK infrastructure to cope with those that fall seriously ill and need medical support. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in doing our bit to facilitate this.