Manufacturers rally against the arctic freeze

Companies have kept factories running with skeleton staff in the face of the heaviest snowfall in 18 years. Some firms maintained operations despite 30% of their workforce being stranded by the white out. Richard Brown, operations director at High Tech Mouldings nr Portsmouth, said: "We've only got around 80% of staff in. We're trying to switch the job processes around so we can run the automated processes and delay the jobs which need manual input. Our staff are very loyal and we've just got to keep on top of it." Kent based Cummins Power Generation said three in ten staff were unable to reach its Ramsgate plant because of snow. The firm had kept production running at a reduced capacity but may still lose £1m, said Mark Brown, customer service improvement leader. He told WM: "We've just been told the ports are closed for 48hours which means all of our export business is off. Our sales targets this week weren't as extreme as they have been so it would have been worse if the snow had come earlier." Staff had kept up spirits by emailing pics of themselves on factory floors to stranded colleagues, Brown added. Greg Pepper co-owner of Greenway Pepper in Staffordshire spent over five hours attempting to reach work by foot after abandoning his car in heavy snow. Have you been hit by the winter freeze: email us your story at mgosney@findlay.co.uk