FRIDAY UPDATE

It has certainly been another busy week for the media to report on, with focus turning to the House of Commons on Wednesday as Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled the content of his Budget setting out the government's taxation and spending plans for the year ahead. He announced many new measures to assist businesses and ensure maximum job retention as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, whilst introducing a series of tax-raising plans to help rebalance the public purse and support the UK's long-term economic recovery. Of particular interest was the news that Furlough has been extended to the end of September which offers us further security as a measure that we can continue to call upon to safeguard the business over coming months should we need it.

Looking closely at the impact of the budget announcements for our industry, it is incredibly positive to hear of the establishment of the ‘National Infrastructure Bank’ with an initial capitalisation of £12billion available to invest in an array of public and private projects and which is very good news for construction and the country as a whole. Such news follows last year’s rhetoric to ‘Build Back Better’ so it is good to see the government now financially backing their plans making this more than just a statement of intent. Let us hope the South East is set to profit from this targeted investment so that we may benefit from increased building opportunities coming forward.

As we reach day 347 of restricted or lockdown life owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I am sure you are all counting down the days to the next steps of the four-stage plan that promises to return many of the niceties of life to us, and most thankfully recent published data remains positively-inclined to support this plan and lead us towards greater freedom. Overall numbers of infections are reported to have fallen by a third over the past week with 1 in 220 people in England now with the virus (compared with 1 in 145 the week before). As the R-Number continues to fall to between 0.7-0.9 which is reassuring news, this does mean that on average 10 people infected will infect between 7-9 other people which I feel is the statistic that we must pay attention to as it realistically reminds us that we must continue to be cautious to stop the spread of infection and keep the numbers moving in the right direction to support the proposed easing of lockdown rules. As we prepare for the reopening of Schools on Monday, signalling the first step forwards in the government’s roadmap, I am sure that whilst this brings an element of excitement that normality is returning to our lives, it will also be an anxious time for many parents and carers as well as our young people as they must re-adjust and adapt once again, and I am sure we will all watch with a degree of trepidation to see the effects this will have on the overall numbers of infections and the subsequent stages of the recovery plan.

Quite remarkably over 20 million people across the UK have now received a first dose of the vaccination which is an incredible achievement and we really must praise everyone involved in this process. With a target to vaccinate all over-50s by mid-April and all those in their 40s and 30s thereafter during the summer this gives us great hope once again. Low infection levels are needed to get the best out of the ongoing vaccination programme and to stop the virus mutating into more prevalent emerging variants. It takes time for immunity to build following vaccination (even after both doses) so I do hope a degree of caution will be exercised in order that we as a nation do not lose sight of the end goal and remain alert to the risks that could set-back global recovery.

I am pleased to update you that Steve Cullen thankfully remains in a stable condition at William Harvey Hospital awaiting relocation to Canterbury so that he can benefit from their rehabilitation facilities. The focus now is keeping Steve upbeat and concentrating on recovery and regaining his strength. Bob Garlinge was able to speak with him last weekend and he is aware of our well wishes in the card we sent, so if you have any more words of encouragement and kindness for Steve please do send these through to keep his spirits up. I will keep you informed in future weeks of his progress and we send our very best wishes to Steve and all his family.

Taking a look at project-focused news I am delighted to report the very timely completion of 9 new homes on behalf of Thanet District Council as part of their essential affordable housing programme. Jenner were not originally selected to undertake the contract and were engaged at a very late and yet critical stage to complete the new homes following the unfortunate demise of longstanding Canterbury-based contractor Coombs, one of our respected local competitors. The project has been completed to our usual exceptional Jenner standards with the Director of Housing and Planning for the Council highly praising our work and stating “your team have been great and this is very much appreciated”. The project has been delivered in record time as we were only contracted in January and it is never easy to take-over the work of another contractor in this way, and so I would like to wholeheartedly extend my congratulations to the team involved, led by Tony Collins.

Even closer to home, works at Folkestone Seafront progress at pace and I wanted to share with you some fantastic images recently taken to highlight how the site continues to emerge. As we ease out of lockdown we are hoping to rearrange a date to support the Folkestone Town Sprucers with a beach clean and litter pick this Spring as the weather improves, so if you are willing to volunteer your time to support this community initiative then please do let Ella know.

I thought I would leave you with something a little different this evening and a little piece of Jenner history, as earlier this week (thanks to the eagle eye of Paul Mercer who spotted them for sale on an online auction site) I received delivery of the original invoices below dating back to 1903 and 1904 when the business was known as Charles Jenner and who at the time were trading not solely as building contractors but, quite surprisingly as undertakers too! I sincerely hope this was not a reflection on the lack of health and safety at the turn of the 19th century and that the business was perhaps adapted to capitalise on demand. I have often claimed this story to both existing and potential clients much to the disbelief of my co-Director Dean Elvidge, who tends to shake his head and questions the integrity of the statement. Well Mr E, I would say the images below are pretty unequivocal! It’s just a bit of a shame there wasn’t a financial wager involved. Don’t worry members of the Park Farm Joinery team, we have no intention of resurrecting (no pun intended) this part of the business, so please do continue to concentrate on delivering your exceptional doors and staircases until further notice!

That’s all from me as another week passes and we nudge ever closer to overcoming the pandemic and enjoying the lives we all once knew. My co-Directors and I continue to thank you all for your continued patience, efforts and enthusiasm and as mentioned above, I encourage you all to continue to remain vigilant, and please do keep up the excellent levels of elective testing via the symptom-free testing service as this really is proving a vital first line defence for us in limiting any spread of infection throughout the business. https://kcc.healthit.org.uk/covbook/home

Do enjoy the weekend ahead which promises to treat us to some more much needed sunshine, and do continue to stay safe and well.