A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the lockdown in France and its potential impact on French limestone supplies. The government recently extended the lockdown for a further two weeks until the 15th April and we can now give some clarity on the impact.
Here in France, the same rules as before will apply to the next two weeks and it is quite possible that the lockdown will be extended further still.
Friday 3rd April - UPDATE
We are still in France and working in isolation from our home office in Normandy where we have a view out onto the local square. Life here in the village appears to have settled in to a routine. We can see an occasional queue outside the pharmacy on the opposite side of the square is well spaced out. The bulk of the traffic going past the front door is made up of the usual tractors from the dairy farms. One or two local neighbours walk down the road to get their bread. Everyone is sticking to the rules and keeping their distance. The local baker at the bottom end of the Abbey square is quite rightly listed as one of the essential businesses in France. They are allowed to remain open to customers. There would be riots if the boulangeries had to shut down.
So village life is operating as normally as it can within the constraints but what about the quarry business? What is happening in the French limestone industry?
Although the latest French government announcement still permits individual businesses to continue trading, there are some that decided to close down for the period of the confinement.
Some of our quarry partners closed a couple of weeks ago while others continued to work. We are now aware of a couple of companies that had closed but are planning to reopen either next week or after Easter. They are all following the French government guidelines on "social distancing" to minimise the risks to their staff. It does mean that we can speak to them, get answers to customer queries and even pass orders on to them.
Customers are being kept away from the premises which has meant that we are still not able to visit the quarries or factories that we originally came out here to see but we can communicate with them by phone and email.
From our point of view, we will continue to comply with the UK and EU advice but otherwise carry on as normally as possible.
Our office phone is currently diverted through to the answerphone while we are in France but we are picking up voicemail messages and can respond by phone or by email as quickly as required.
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Stay safe.
Steve Turner
Amarestone
Tel: 0345 260 8070