Covid-19 and our furniture services Safer shopping in our stores and warehouses - updated 30th November 2021 In line with the easing of national restrictions by the Government, our furniture stores are open to the public, we also continue to offer click and collect and delivery services for items that you purchase from us. Items can be purchased online from our shop on this website, by Paypal or over the phone. Please see our website shop, Facebook and Gumtree listings for items currently for sale. If we are delivering purchased items to you we are unable to enter your property to keep everyone safe, we can only deliver your purchased items from your doorstep. Please remember this when you are purchasing from us. CT's furniture stores and warehouses closed to the public when the government put in place lockdown measures on 23rd March 2020. We continued to sell online via our website shop, eBay and via social media platforms. We also provided emergency housing packs, working with a range of local authorities and other housing providers to furnish empty properties and get people into safe housing. This was a result of Government guidance being issued to give rough sleepers and those in shared sleeping places the very best chance of coping with the onslaught of Covid-19. Throughout this period we have been stringent in following the strict social distancing measures laid out by government. What CT Furniture is doing to keep people safe - currently, in line with Government guidance we are open to the public Following the closure of our stores and warehouses in March, we worked tirelessly on preparing our premises for reopening with enhanced health and safety measures to ensure our colleagues and customers feel safe. Our furniture stores and warehouses re-opened from Monday 15th June on a phased basis. Between 5th November and 2nd December we closed again to the public, and again from 4th January 2021. From Monday 12th April 2021 our furniture retail stores opened to the public once again and follow the Government's guidance on social distancing and wearing face coverings. You can also continue to purchase items from us online or over the phone, we provide a click and collect option and our delivery service. Please check your local CT Furniture store's social media pages for updates on items available to purchase. Our staff and customers are reminded daily to only come into our premises if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating. If you have any of these following symptoms please do not enter our premises: If you're planning a visit to CT Furniture we'd love to see you, but help us to help you. Here's some of the measures we've put in place to help customers and colleagues stay safe, so please follow our advice: Please take read and take notice of the signage and information displayed at the front of our stores, this explains what we are doing in the premises to keep everyone safe. There should be a member of staff at the entrance to guide you through this. Similar to in other retail premises, where necessary we'll limit the flow of customers coming into our stores to make sure they don't get too busy and have changed the layout so you have more space. Where possible, we’ve created distinct entrances and exits to our stores, so that it’s easier to keep a safe distance from other shoppers. Please try to shop on your own to help reduce the number of people in-store at any one time. We understand that this is not always possible, so if you need to bring children with you or shop with a carer, you are welcome to do so. You must supervise any children with you at all times. Please try to respect each other’s personal space. We have provided hand sanitiser stations at the entrance to the store/warehouse, please sanitise your hands when you enter the store. Wash and sanitise your hands again once home. Touch less where you can, try only what you intend to buy. If possible, use card or contactless payments. Other safety measures we've put in place include: We've trained all our team in how to stay safe and keep other safe. Our staff are provided with an enhanced range of PPE, including gloves, face masks and face shields to be worn where necessary. In store safety marshalls to help guide you. Perspex screens have been installed at our till areas. Enhanced cleaning measures throughout the day, including regularly disinfecting high touch points such as door handles and hand-rails. From Tuesday 30th November 2021 customers must wear a face covering when shopping in our stores and warehouses. Please follow the guidance above and ask member of staff in store if you have any questions. CT has also put in place a working environment assessment and plan for each work site/service to set out the social distancing measures needed to keep everyone safe. We look forward to seeing you soon. Furniture collections and deliveries at your premises Wherever possible we aim to minimise contacts to keep everyone safe, we prefer to only collect or deliver your items at your doorstep. We will come into properties subject to strict conditions and prior agreement. Please remember this when you are booking your donation of goods or purchasing items from us. In June 2020, the Government issued guidance on working safely during Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19), to allow business operations to continue or restart. The measures adopted by CT are outlined in our Covid-19 risk assessment and in the specific working environment assessment and plan for each site/activity. Precautions we have put in place include our staff and volunteers working in fixed teams, using the same delivery vehicles, wearing personal protective equipment and using hand sanitiser. Enhanced cleaning routines are in place for our vehicles, equipment and warehouses. Doorstep collections and deliveries To ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers, and customers, wherever possible, we will continue to carry out contactless doorstep collections and deliveries (this will be reviewed in line with Government guidance). Even at the doorstep, care must be taken to follow social distancing guidance and avoid face-to-face contact with households. This includes when someone is answering the door. Our admin/store team will discuss the arrangements for your doorstep delivery/collection at the time of booking with us. Upon arrival at your property we will phone you to let you know that we are there and collecting your donated items or delivering. We will not expect you to come outside. Furniture deliveries and collections inside people’s properties There may be exceptional circumstances where we consider it necessary and reasonable to enter the property to deliver or collect larger items (ie if the collection/delivery cannot wait until after current restrictions are reduced and the donor is not capable or able to place or collect items at the doorstep). This will be subject to a number of additional safety measures being adhered to. All deliveries and collections will be non-contact. Entering the customers property will be assessed and agreed in advance at the time of booking the delivery/collection with CT. Where we have agreed to enter property for delivery or collection On the day of the delivery/collection: Any member of staff with symptoms of COVID-19 - or staff who live in a household with someone with symptoms - have been asked not to come into work. The admin team will contact the customer by telephone first thing on the day of the collection/delivery before we visit their homes to arrange how we will do the work to minimise risk for everyone. They will also establish that day: If the customer or someone in their household is shielding (clinically extremely vulnerable) or are self-isolating. If them or anyone in their household currently has any of the symptoms of COVID-19 listed on the NHS website. In either situation, we will not enter the property and will only be able to carry out contactless doorstep delivery or collection. In these circumstances, if doorstep delivery/collection is not possible because of the customer’s frailty, health problems etc and they are shielding or self-isolating, they will be advised to book a delivery/collection slot after the isolation/shielding period has ended. As an added measure, our van crew are only permitted to enter your property when this has been agreed in advance with CT and clearly marked on their worksheet. How we’ll minimise risk for everyone When we have agreed to enter the property, on the morning of the delivery/collection, our admin team will explain to the customer: Our delivery/collections teams are supplied with hand sanitiser to apply pre and post every visit to a customer's home. They are also provided with surgical face masks and gloves, which will be worn and should be changed for use in each customer's home. We can collect/deliver to the room of the customer’s choice. We ask that one hour before the scheduled delivery time customers open windows in the room where the order will be placed and along the access route to the room. Before our staff enter the property, please open all internal doors they need to go through so they don’t have to. Please adhere to social distancing rules and stand outside the room while our staff are inside distancing. Our staff will always stay 1m+ away from the customer. They may politely ask them to step back a bit if necessary, this is to keep everyone safe. The driver/van crew will sign for the delivery/collection and take an image of the item (s) to confirm the delivery and/or collection has been successful. All collections/deliveries are paperless, we will email or post the paperwork to the customer where necessary. Items with fabric must have fire safety labels attached. More information on fire safety labels can be found at https://www.communitytransport.org/blog/what-are-fire-safety-labels Donated items must be in good useable condition and we cannot guarantee we will collect if the item/items are found to be unsuitable for re-use. This is at the discretion of our driver/van crew. Please bear with us at this unusual and difficult time, it may take us longer for us to get to you and complete your collection or delivery due to the additional safety measures that we have put in place. Manage Cookie Preferences