Copart are ‘ready to handle disruption from coronavirus’

Copart UK has offered reassurance to its customers that its ‘prepared to deal with any fall out from coronavirus’.

Copart have said it will call on its network of operation centres and fleet of more than 250 transporters to keep services moving. The company will also utilise rapid Catastrophe Response Teams, who provide support in times of floods and other crisis situations.

Jane Pocock, managing director at Copart, said: “Copart has a continuously reviewed Business Continuity Plan on standby to launch to ensure our operation continues to function and we uphold our customer responsibilities.

“We welcomed the commitment from the Chancellor in Wednesday’s Budget to take every necessary measure to steer the UK through the coronavirus crisis, as well as the government’s determination to be guided by the science in its decision-making.

“The specific challenges that the coronavirus situation brings for many companies centre around staff and system logistics, but as we own all our operations centres and those who work there are Copart employees, we can manage peaks in demand through centrally controlled decisions and any local issues by simply diverting to another Copart operations centre.”

Copart’s function teams that support operations are enabled to work remotely. Pocock said: “This enables us to instigate 'virtual team' contingency plans including a separate business continuity location which applies whether it’s claims settlement, customer service teams and any supporting function.”

Pocock also said that being part of the global Copart family acted as a further stabiliser for employees and customers in times of uncertainty.

“All our UK critical systems are cloud-based and are housed in military grade hosting facilities, distributed globally and supported by Copart in both the United States and in India. Our customers can rest assured it will be business as usual despite the potential practical challenges coronavirus may bring,” she said.

Jo Ferguson, head of UK human resources at Copart, said: “We are following the coronavirus situation closely and will be guided by scientific experts. We are monitoring information published by the World Health Organisation and Public Health England and will continue to share regular updates and information with our employees.”