Protective screens and other measures are expected to become a feature in many stores as lockdown restrictions start to ease.

Readers may already be familiar with the perspex POS screens and hanging plastic curtains that have been installed in supermarkets across the nation, as consumers and retailers alike adjust to vitally important social distancing measures needed to keep people from transmitting Covid-19.

Alastair Grant – son of The Entertainer’s Gary Grant – is heading up the business PanelHouse, which aims to meet the growing need for this kind of equipment. Already, the company has supplied 600 POS protective screens for Entertainer stores across the UK, as well as various office and warehousing solutions. Responding proactively to the emerging need, the company has worked hard to put together a range of solutions, from off-the-shelf to bespoke designs, suitable for public spaces such as shops and communal workspaces. PanelHouse says its mission is to help businesses keep their staff and customers safe, whilst maintaining operational capacity.

“The next few weeks, where we expect society to start to reopen, will be a challenging time for businesses to navigate” Alastair told Toy World. “As well as predicting and assessing what the ‘new normal’ is going to be and how many customers are going to visit stores at all, it’s also going to be critical for businesses to take precautions to protect their staff and customers. To get customers back into our shops and public spaces it will be essential for businesses to create environments that look and feel safe. If customers don’t feel safe, they aren’t going to use your shop. The other critical part of this is protecting the staff that are being askied to work on the front line in face-to-face customer and office roles.”

He added: “Businesses are going to need to take these precautions whilst at the same time maintaining or protecting a good level of productivity. For the retailer, as an example, it just won’t be possible for them to operate as profitably as before if they can only allow a certain number of customers in the store at a time.”

The PanelHouse website (www.panelhouse.co.uk) lays out the company’s current off-the-shelf range, as well as outlining its design and build bespoke offering. For a personal consultation, contact Alastair Grant on a.grant@panelhouse.co.uk.