Our response to the COVID-19 outbreak

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been classified by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic. A pandemic is a worldwide spread of a new disease. It is having a significant effect on how people go about their daily lives and how businesses remain operational.

Mitie takes its responsibility to maintain the performance and continuity of our customers’ operations very seriously. To do so, we are undertaking a series of measures to protect our people so that they in turn, can protect our customers’ people, and keep their businesses running smoothly.

In line with our Risk and Resilience procedures, we have established a national Critical Incident Team (CIT) to assess and mitigate risk to individuals, and to co-ordinate and respond to disruption if it occurs.

In regular contact with the UK Cabinet Office, the CIT is responsible for ensuring all necessary precautions are communicated and undertaken to safeguard anyone and everyone in Mitie and the customers that we serve.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant challenge but together, we are rising to it and will undoubtedly overcome.

Our commitment to customers

The Critical Incident Team (CIT) Mitie has established includes senior management from our Cleaning, Security, Risk, Engineering, Energy and Landscaping operations, along with our internal infrastructure and operations teams.

Together, they assess and mitigate the risks associated with the COVID-19 outbreak and formulate contingencies to keep our customers running.

For instance, our Energy team is working with customers to optimise power usage for buildings with unexpectedly fluctuating occupancy. Our Technical Services team is adapting maintenance regimes and adjusting AirCon policies. And all the time, our specialist cleaning operation is undertaking measures to ensure the safety of the 5 million people that pass through the buildings we maintain throughout the UK every single day.

While the circumstances around the COVID-19 outbreak are constantly changing, our resolve and commitment remains unchanged. We will always use all our knowledge, experience and resources to maximise safety and minimise disruption for our customers. We will maintain constant communication, provide the latest advice and remain vigilant and agile in our response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mitie Technical Services have formulated a series of practical measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in buildings – find out more >

If you have any concerns about COVID-19 and how Mitie is working to mitigate its effects, please don’t hesitate to contact your account lead at Mitie.

Supporting the supply chain

Mitie recognises the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting all businesses, including those of its valued suppliers.

We all face the current challenges together so have created a live supplier update portal, through which our suppliers provide daily updates. Categorised as red, for immediate impact; Amber for medium-term impact, and green for no impact, the updates provide Mitie’s operational teams with essential information with which to plan activity, mitigate risk and keep customers informed.

The portal also provides Mitie with the means to share daily forecasts and updates relating to the constantly-changing situation, so our supply chain remains in sync.

In sharing regular updates and working together with suppliers, Mitie is ready to handle the constantly changing situation.

If you are a supplier to Mitie, please access the update portal here >

About COVID-19 and what you can do to help

COVID-19 is a new strain within a large family of viruses named Coronavirus. Signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

It is vital to take precautions to not only avoid infection, but to avoid passing the infection on to other people.

Wash your hands often, especially after travel, and for at least 20 seconds at a time. Ordinary soap will cleanse perfectly well – you don’t need to use hand sanitiser unless soap is unavailable.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or use the crook of your elbow if you cough or sneeze.
• Put used tissues straight into the bin and again, wash your hands.
• Avoid touching your face, nose or mouth.
• Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

If you start showing the symptoms yourself, it is important you remove and isolate yourself from contact with others as soon as possible. Even if your symptoms are mild you should remain in isolation.

If your symptoms worsen, such that you are having difficulty breathing for instance, you should contact 111 immediately.