14th May 2020 09:17
(Alliance News) - Persimmon PLC on Thursday said it will reopen its sales offices in England on Friday in response to new UK government guidance, and it is restoring production capacity at its construction sites.
Shares in Persimmon were down 3.7% at 2,072.00 pence in London in morning trading.
The housebuilder closed all of its construction sites and sales offices in March in response to the Covid-19 lockdown but announced a phased return to construction on April 27 in both England and Wales. In the week beginning May 4 it had restored around 65% of production capacity.
In response to the latest UK government guidance, effective Wednesday this week, Persimmon also will reopen its English sales offices on Friday.
"All sales offices and show homes will reopen with strict new social distancing and additional hygiene measures in place, which are fully compliant with the latest UK government guidance. Initially, sales consultations will be on a pre-booked appointment basis only," said Persimmon.
All Persimmon's businesses in Scotland are still in shutdown, and it is awaiting further Scottish government guidance on a restart timetable.
In the eight weeks ended May 10, Persimmon secured 1,351 gross private sales reservations and managed 1,300 legal completions while cancellations stayed "in line with historic trends".
Chief Executive David Jenkinson said: "We support the government's view that the housing sector has a key role to play in the UK's economic recovery. The urgent need for new homes has not been diminished by Covid-19 and the new measures announced by the government will re-open the housing market and allow people to get moving again. Our sales colleagues can now begin to return to site but staff and customer safety remains our first priority and we have put in place new protocols and training procedures to enable them to restart operations safely.
"Persimmon decided not to access any form of government support during the shutdown period and has maintained its commitments to its colleagues and communities in full throughout. Now, as we re-start activity, this decision is also enabling us to get back to work swiftly and safely. Persimmon is open for business and we are looking forward to welcoming customers back to site and continuing to play our part in rebuilding Britain's economy."
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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