Greencore said that its board and executive directors have voluntarily agreed to take a 30% reduction in respective fees and base salary for a period of three months, with the wider group leadership team also taking a voluntary reduction of 20% of base salary for the same period.
Since the UK Government’s escalating measures to combat the outbreak, as announced on 24 March, consumer demand and shopper behaviours have changed rapidly, the company noted.
There has been a marked reduction in demand for the group’s food to go categories in grocery retail, which has been 'partly offset by the sustained volume growth in the group’s other convenience categories'.
Considering the fact that the company's workers have been designated as ‘key workers’ during the pandemic, the company said that it has carried out a wide range of precautions and enhanced safety measures, focusing in particular on implementing an extensive set of social distancing initiatives across its manufacturing and distribution network.
'Prudent Measures'
In addition, the convenience foods firm said that it is taking prudent measures to protect profitability and cashflow.
It outlined that the group is tightening its food to go production network and furloughing impacted colleagues, using the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The group highlighted that it is also working to eliminate non-essential operating costs.
In this context and given the ongoing level of uncertainty around the possible duration and impact of COVID-19, the Group said that it is is suspending financial guidance for FY20 and the Group’s outlook for FY20 included in its FY19 Full Year Results Statement and FY20 Q1 Trading Update should no longer be considered current.
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