Updated 23rd February 2022

Dear valued Customer,

We would like to thank you for your loyalty and support through these unprecedented times.

Supporting our customers
As our customers evolve their working plans, Banner is proud to be here as your reliable and responsible business supplies partner. We continue to deliver our service and support our customers in the following way:

  • We remain fully open and operational and our main priority is to keep everybody safe and healthy.
  • Our logistics operation allows us to make daily deliveries to either a workplace or a home location, whilst ensuring our employees are protected and observing all Government guidelines.
  • We shall respect the formal advice that is given by the authorities and go further to protect both ourselves and our customers whenever necessary.
  • We shall communicate and let you know what’s happening.
Best wishes and stay safe.

The Banner Team

Information and updates

As you can appreciate, the safety and well-being of everyone connected with Banner is our number one priority. We will continue to follow all of the advice from the Government and the World Health Organisation with regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.  We’ve tried to answer some of the important questions that you may have right now and will continue to keep this page updated regularly.

Receiving deliveries

Will your drivers deliver as normal?
We continue to make deliveries, our teams are working safely and deliveries are going out daily. If you will be unable to accept your delivery, please contact your Account Manager as soon as possible, so that we can take action. We are confident our delivery service is operating robustly, however from time to time we may experience unavoidable issues due to self-isolation for COVID-19. We are doing everything we can to maintain our delivery service to our customers, while ensuring the safety of our employees. Your Account Manager will be able to help with any queries.

Current delivery protocol
• The Truline driver will not hand over his handheld signature device to any customer for them to sign for their delivery in order to minimise contact.
• The Truline driver will sign on the customers behalf and take the recipient’s name.
• This will translate on a Proof of Delivery with the signature stated as COVID-19.  It will be seen as such on the customer delivery portal
• Truline drivers will wear a face mask at the point of delivery, unless medically exempt.

Service update
Similar to all businesses around the country, we may potentially face a shortfall in staffing availability for both warehouse and transport roles over the next few weeks. This is a well-documented national problem that has been compounded in the past 18 months by the coronavirus pandemic and then exacerbated by the high levels of the requirement to self-isolate.

Are you delivering to desk-tops?
For the safety of all involved and at the request of some Banner customers, our desk-top delivery service is currently on hold. However, we will aim to accommodate any individual customer delivery requirements. Please contact your Banner Account Manager if you have a special request regarding your deliveries.

While we are working hard to keep our delivery service running as usual, the safety of our teams and customers remains our top priority. In line with government, WHO & HSE guidance, we continue to maintain the appropriate measures to reduce the overall risk to our workforce and our customers. At present, desk-top deliveries that involve entering customer's premises, travelling in lifts etc are an increased risk to our delivery teams and are therefore on hold, unless the necessary checks have taken place and an agreement has been made with your Banner Account Manager and our delivery team.

• Entry to a recipient's commercial building is allowed only if the recipient allows it and the driver deems it COVID safe to do so.
• If entry into the recipient's commercial building is denied or the driver deems it unsafe to enter, the driver will agree on a mutual place to hand over the    goods.
• Please also contact your Banner Account Manager to arrange an alternative delivery point, such as a reception area, agreed safe delivery point or       loading bay.

We will continue to review the situation and look to re-introduce this service to our customers when it is deemed safe to do so. 

Can Banner deliver to home locations instead of office premises?
Yes we can. Please contact your Account Manager or contract manager and provide details. We will need to set up an alternative delivery address on your account, which will make sure that order placement and selection of the delivery location is in your control.

Can I change the delivery address on my existing order?
Unfortunately not, once your order has been placed we can not manually change the delivery address.  As above, please contact your Account Manager to set up alternative delivery addresses for any future orders.  

What happens if I'm not able to accept my delivery?
Please contact your Account Manager as soon possible and we will endeavor to re-deliver the order the next working day.  If this is not possible, regrettably your order will be returned to our warehouse and considered as a cancelled transaction.  In this instance, credits will be applied via the usual process. 

Will our employees have to touch handheld devices when they receive a delivery?
No. In order to protect both our people and our customers, we will not be handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture electronic signatures. Our drivers will instead log the first and last name of the person accepting the item and we will record the geolocation of the delivery (where possible). This will apply to all deliveries that normally require a signature. Again, this step is being taken to protect our staff and customers alike and we ask that you support this action. Should you later need a proof of delivery, please contact your Account Manager or our customer services team. 

Is it safe to receive orders?
The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low. You can find the latest information on COVID-19 on the information pages of the UK Government and the World Health Organization.

Stock levels and supply chain

Do you have infection control and PPE products in stock?
We would like to reassure customers that we have established a full range of appropriate cleaning, infection control and PPE products. Wherever your workplace is, Banner can supply the products needed to protect employees and enable your company to be productive and efficient. View our brochure here. 

Will I be able to receive all my normal goods and do you have a robust supply chain?
Banner, as part of the EVO Group, has a robust supply chain. We also have the largest stock holding in our industry. We trade with both global suppliers and UK based manufacturers. We have been assured by our suppliers that they are prioritising Banner within their supply chain. We rely and trust our suppliers to provide accurate information in terms of deliveries to us and we will tell you what they tell us. 

Will you stock goods that help me reopen my office locations and keep workspaces clean and my employees safe?
We have prioritised an appropriate range of goods and our inventory teams have made these goods available. We aim at all times to provide accurate dates for future receipts of stock in to our operation. We’d encourage you to contact your Account Manager for updates on the arrival of goods once orders are placed. Our warehouse teams are operating in a COVID-secure work pattern and will expedite your deliveries as usual, Banner will always be honest and open in communicating updates.

Will I be able to add new products to my contract?
Please talk to your Account Manager with this type of request. As the needs of your business evolve we will support you with advice and guidance which allows you to make the best possible decisions that keep your employees safe. Rest assured we are doing everything in our power to maintain our usual high service levels.

Business precautions and procedures

What precautions and procedures have you put in place for your employees?
The safety and well-being of everyone related to Banner is our priority and we will continue to follow the latest advice from the Government and the World Health Organisation with regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. We are are now operating across a mixture of office and home environments. We have office, warehouse and transport roles and have taken measures to distribute protective equipment to these employees. We have deployed a COVID-19 policy document in line with HR best practice to ensure all Banner employees are clear on the measures in place. This is being reviewed and updated as the situation changes.

We would ask you to order online as much as possible and look out for updates on this page. You may deal with different staff to normal due to the changing situation. We have cross trained staff to be able to work over a range of functions and we will deal with your enquiry as promptly as we can. 

Will your warehouses still operate?
Our warehouses have operated throughout the pandemic in a COVID-secure working pattern. While there are elements of automation within our warehouse operations we do require manual input to bring our service to our customers. We have multi-skilled operatives who can work outside of their normal area in order to help cover changes in resource that we find on any one day. We will flex overtime, weekend working and temporary staff as required to deliver our service. Our employees’ health and well-being remains a priority while also delivering our service to you.

Is your IT platform robust?
Our systems are robust and are regularly maintained and upgraded. We do not foresee any risks to our systems at this point, providing our outsourced third party partners provision remains in place e.g. phone systems, broadband, electricity etc. 

Will I be able to visit your sites?
If you'd like to visit our site please speak with your usual Banner contact so that we can make appropriate arrangements. This decision will be based on Government advice regarding social distancing at that time.

Will you be visiting my business?
We will be respectful of our customers desires to hold either face to face or remote meetings.  As above we have put in place measures to protect our transport team and customers when making deliveries. All customer meetings will be based on Government advice regarding social distancing at that time. We will not ask an employee to visit your site against the wishes of either party. 

Is Banner financially stable?
As part of the large privately owned EVO Group we are financially stable. We have the ability to call on working capital as may be required.

I am a Banner customer and may need to cease trading for a period of time - what information do you need?
If your business is ceasing trading for a period, you will need to notify us and arrange to pay for goods and settle outstanding balances as soon as possible.  Please contact us as soon as you are ready to recommence.

Government Recommendations
Banner will follow Government Recommendations on behalf of our staff, customers and suppliers. We have issued all staff with clear guidelines and updated HR policies.