Arc Euro and Coronavirus

The employers who close down will have carried out risk assessments, and being aware of their duty of care to their employees, and to their customers, and acted accordingly and responsibly.

Whilst, personally, am sceptical about over reacting, the probability of catching the virus has to considered. The chance of catching the virus will vary according where you live and how you conduct yourself.

Ostensibly, the chances of dying from the virus may still be many thousands to one. That will not be the case for those who already have major health problems, or live in densely populated buildings.

Thousands to one may be good odds, unless you happen to be the one!

It is good that suppliers are acting responsibly, so that they and their staff will, hopefully, be there for us when the problem has subsided.

Howard

Ketan,

Best wishes to you and all the staff at ARC from France where we are further into the infection curve than you guys. Hang in there and I'm sure I'll have a shopping list for you when you can re-open.

Russell

That may be the case for some. However, for the bulk of our readership who are over the age of 10, the odds are estimated for some representative ages:

• 1 in 500 below the age of 40
• 1 in 250 in your 40s
• 1 in 28 in your 60s
• 1 in 7 in your 80s

See https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/, also my emails of 4 March and 22 March on the Coronavirus thread https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=150094

Current generally quoted death rates appear typically far higher, but are warped because of under-reporting of cases that were very mild and therefore not tested.

Martin

Edited By Martin Whittle on 29/03/2020 19:59:07

Hi Vic,

I totally understand where you are coming from.

In 1995, I travelled around in the Congo during the Ebola outbreak. I was the sales guy in a two man business - young and a little carefree. We sold bearings, textile fabric, related dyes, chemicals and textile machinery parts at the time. From 1994 to around 2004, it was a turbulent time dealing with challenging logistics resulting from the Rwandan genocide link and Ugandan and Rwandan wars in the region, in and around the town of Kisangani link where my main customer was located. Ebola still remains an issue in the region link

During the above period, I lost two friends from that region... both lost to AIDS rather than being shot dead or from Ebola. One died in Durban - South Africa, and the other at his home in U.K.. The guy from U.K. was a fabric printer with specialist knowledge who I had known for many years. Once he lost his job here, I helped him to get a job in the factory in Kisangani. Whilst he survived stray bullets and threats to his life, he and his second wife (who he met out there) lost their lives to AIDS. So there is some sadness in wondering what if ?... even though the decisions taken were his own.

I later travelled to China as a buyer, during the SARS outbreak, on a plane with only five passengers on-board. This time I was equipped with hand sanitisers, and 3M FFP3 face masks, visiting an almost empty exhibition. I had knocked on SIEGs door on previous occasions, only to be turned away politely. On this occasion, the General Manager agreed to supply goods to me. I wore a mask, he didn't. At the time, he shrugged and said what ever will be will be. At the time, I was now a sole trader - one man band.

Fast forward January 2020 to date, SIEG GMs and my thinking have developed, and our circumstances have changed. He and I are are both 16 years older than we were back then. We both have greater responsibilities to consider, to include the heath of our teams, their families, our families. Each one of us have to consider our own health too, explore the probabilities, weigh up the pros and cons, and make our own decision, regardless of how big or small a company is.

I am aware of the loss of business, as well as future uncertainty. I understand, respect and commend the other business owners decision to continue on his own. That is his personal decision to make... in the same way as I did from 1995 to 2004. At the same time, after reading the above, I hope you will understand some of the factors which I took into consideration to reach my decision.

Ketan at ARC

Thank you all for your understanding and kind words of support.

Please, be safe and take care.

Ketan at ARC

Being local to ARC, I am able to just walk or drive down to collect stuff. In fact I was down there at the start of all this. I can understand Ketan’s worries, it is almost impossible for there to be more than one person working in order to keep apart. Also as the government has requested non essential workplaces to shut then so be it.

See you all when you restart.

Thanks for the reply Ketan as you can probably guess I ordered some stuff last week, nothing that I desperately need though.

Stay safe and best wishes to yourself, Ian and everyone at Arc, I've spent a few quid with you over the years and will continue to do so when things are back to normal.

Ian

After sending out the COVID-19 email yesterday to people who are on our mailing list, combined with Neils post on this forum, we have had an overwhelming response from well wishers sending us emails of support. I am very surprised and grateful. Thank you.

As a result of these notifications, we have also seen an increase of orders received from yesterday afternoon up to now, combined with an increase in telephone calls. To enable us to process and dispatch orders before we close tomorrow, we have had to close our telephone lines and website early this afternoon, rather than as originally planned for mid day tomorrow. Please accept my apologies.

As advised earlier, we will process and dispatch all orders received before we closed.

Ketan at ARC.

Just seen the latest email from ARC telling us they are closing for the duration of the pandemic. The picture of the last bog roll in the country did make me smile though. Things must be getting bad if we have no more ARC for the time being. I do hope the lifeline of MEW can keep going to keep me on an even keel.

Doug

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 31/03/2020 16:40:44

Ketan -

Friday evening, after ARC had closed I ordered a couple of things from the website and Saturday mid-morning I saw they had been dispatched by Parcelforce.

They have just been left in the porch.

I can only say that to get the goods this soon (Parcelforce is an economy, 2-3 day service at the best of times) under the current circumstances, and over a weekend, just shows the professionalism we have both from you and your team and also Parcelforce.

Take care, and as soon as you are confident that you are safe to resume trading let us know as I am certain I will need some other bits by then!

Nick

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 31/03/2020 12:58:45

They are.

As I found this morning when preparing to place an order!

Edited By JasonB on 03/04/2020 07:38:09

Our website has re-opened. Here is the text from the email sent to people on our mailing list:

The current situation is constantly evolving, with new regulations and guidelines coming into play daily.

Taking this into consideration, and after much discussion amongst our team, we have taken the decision to re-open as of Monday with dispatches commencing Tuesday 14th April.

In line with government guidelines, our team will be working on a staggered basis. As a result, there may be some delay in processing and dispatch of orders.

The safety of our team remains at the forefront of our decision.

We hope our products can bring some joy in these difficult times.

Thanks Ketan,

Neil

Ketan,

That is good news and I'm sure it will be appreciated by many on here. Slightly delayed orders is a small price to pay and as you say the health and well-being of your staff must remain your priority. I for one will be placing an order asap for some Oldham couplings so I can progress with a stepper operated rotary table.

Stay safe.

Best Regards,

Colin

Great news.

Steve.