COVID-19 response
In the context of COVID-19, we are proud to have supported our colleagues in every way we can, while all our teams have gone the extra mile to keep serving our customers this year.
Our local teams adapted quickly to the new ways of working. They ensured we maintained safe workplaces and embraced new and refreshed ways of communicating across remote environments.
Our employees have responded impressively to the challenges we faced in 2020. They have supported difficult decisions to ensure business continuity through disciplined cost control and cash management, while still delivering for our customers.
We were able to keep most of our manufacturing sites open, thanks to our teams’ reactivity, and because our services are critical to society. We also helped ensure efficient water and gas supply in our communities, as well as maintain effective drainage and wastewater treatment systems.
Supporting hospitals with water systems
We helped rapidly deploy healthcare facilities during the pandemic, including clean water and wastewater systems in 4 hospitals:
- a temporary hospital in Guatemala City,
- NHS England’s Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham,
- an emergency department at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, also in England,
- a field hospital in Wales.
75,000+ face shields
Face shields were designed and produced at our plants throughout the world. They were donated to hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, dentists, police officers, taxi drivers, supermarkets and more.
Aliaxis People Solidarity Fund
We launched the Aliaxis People Solidarity Fund to provide support to employees heavily impacted by the pandemic in different ways (care packages, food baskets, school fees, family emergency support). Set up within the King Baudouin Foundation, the Fund supported 57 employee families in 2020.
Ashirvad cares
Our Ashirvad Cares programme in India reached out to 650,000 plumbers, mechanics and contractors, supported our colleagues at work and at home, and supplied 20,000 litres of hand sanitiser to key workers in local communities.
Strengthened leadership team
Welcome to Eric Olsen
Olivier van der Rest, Chairman of Aliaxis, announced the appointment of Eric Olsen as CEO, who started on October 1, 2020: “Eric is a world class leader with a proven track record of delivering transformation and growth. He shares our vision and will lead the Company as we embark on the next phase of the Group transformation.”
A more operational ExCom
Our proximity to the end-customer, and the empowerment of line management are critical success factors for Aliaxis. To simplify our way of working and build a more agile team, Eric Olsen integrated our four Divisional CEOs, managing the Americas, APAC, EMEA, and India, into the ExCom.
Alongside our CEO and our Divisional CEOs, the ExCom brings together the heads of our key functional teams. These are the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief HR and CR Officer, the Chief Growth Officer and the Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer.
Business updates
Divestments
In line with our strategy to divest non-core activities, we divested Harrington, our US distributor of industrial products for corrosive and high purity applications. We also divested our operations in South-East Asia.
Successful integration of Silver-Line Plastics
We integrated Silver-Line Plastics – the leading US manufacturer of plastic pipe products we acquired in late 2019 – ahead of schedule and surpassed our planned synergies during the year.
Preparing for growth
Despite the challenges from the pandemic, our performance in 2020 demonstrated our resilience and underlying potential. Building on our solid foundations, we are ready to start a new chapter focused on generating profitable growth.
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