Ingram ramps up Covid-19 hygiene measures to stay open

Ingram says it has ramped up its cleaning routines to remain open for business during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has seen a rise in use of its print-on-demand programme.

The firm made the announcement following high-profile warehouse closures this week by distributors Gardners and Bertrams.

Ingram said its global facilities had ramped up daily cleaning routines and instructed employees on recommended hygiene practices, alongside enforcing strict social distancing guidelines, so it could remain open.

It also has a staging process to pass mail and other supplies between facilities and the outside world, which does not require distribution centre and office workers to physically interact.

Lunch and break times have also been staggered to reduce the number of people in break rooms, while gaps have been introduced between shift changes. Those who can work from home are being encouraged to do so, the firm said.

David Taylor, Ingram’s senior vice-president content acquisition and NBNi managing director, said: "This is a difficult time for all of us in the UK book trade. I can confirm that Ingram’s operations in the UK and US—including our UK and global Lightning Source print-on-demand operations, our US export wholesale business, and NBNi, our book distribution business—remain open and are operating in accordance with recommended UK government guidelines,.

“We have seen a strong increase in titles being put into our print-on-demand programme. We encourage publishers to bring as many titles as possible so that we can do our best to keep the supply of books flowing to the market. We’re working directly with many booksellers—including Wordery, The Book Depository, Paperback Shop, Waterstones, Amazon, Blackwell's—who are shipping books to consumers’ homes, which is a necessary service.”