We are writing today to provide a further update on the Emprise operations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which is having such a significant impact on our society, both economically and socially.
As a society we are living through extraordinary times. Never has the Australian tourism and local RV and Boat markets endured such a sustained run of tragic conditions affecting the fabric of these great markets like we are seeing today, let alone the broader impact on society from bushfires, floods and most recently COVID-19 (or Coronavirus).
The flow on effect of these events will have widespread impacts on people and businesses alike, our own business is not immune, but we can already see the galvanisation of teams and communities willing to fight this out.
These green shoots of optimism, supported by a raft of Federal and State Government stimulus and subsidy measures (which should be applauded) will see us come through this. They will provide a platform for our communities to get out and experience their own adventure in coming months and years. It will inspire a new generation of travellers who want to experience freedom and space in their leisure time.
The adverse market conditions have meant that the business has had to change the way we operate, however despite this we are continuing to operate "as normal as possible". The rapidly changing nature of the pandemic has meant a high level of uncertainty for businesses and individuals, but we continue our commitment to provide the highest level of service we can during this time.
The health and well-being of our community—our employees, customers, and partners—is our top priority during this period. As a result, we have made a number of changes to the way Emprise has set up its operations to protect its team while still keeping our operations as functional as possible:
For our retail customers, we are continuing to service our retail channels and clients as normal:
Orders can continue to be made as normal via:
the B2B Portal (https://hemamaps.dearportal.com/)
EDI connections - orders will process as normal; or
Direct with your retail partner manager
Toll is continuing to ship goods in line with normal SLAs
Customer service is available to support orders and stock movements
Our finance team is processing orders and supporting any queries.
For our advertising and marketing clients, we are continuing to publish our much loved magazines (providing some inspiration for future travel), marketing our digital channels and supporting our content clients. Practically this means:
Our monthly magazines, eDMs and website content will continue to be distributed as normal
Our printers and distributors have secured their supply chain to allow continuity to the majority of retail outlets (supermarkets, newsagents, etc)
Content activities - reviews, videos and photography are still possible
The team are investigating more digital outlets for our existing magazines to expand reach
Campaigns and bookings can still be made via your partner manager
Our finance team is processing orders and supporting any queries
Our offices are running on reduced staff numbers in the office with the majority of the team working remotely to ensure appropriate health and safety provisions are in place. Long before this pandemic, we had set up our team across Australia to have the ability to work remotely and collaborate with each other and communicate with customers. This means you should see limited impact in the way we operate at this stage.
As we have expressed before, in times like this communication is key. We will continue to provide you updates as and if anything changes as we follow the guidance of public health experts and respond to the rapidly changing market conditions. This is an extraordinary time and we are conscious of trying to support our partners and our people as best we can.
We wish everyone the best of health during this time and we look forward to guiding some of these adventures when we are back on our collective feet. In the meantime we hope to inspire future adventures with our stories or trip planning tools to keep that light burning bright.
If you need anything from us, please let me or our team know.
Warm regards,
Rob
Rob Gallagher
CEO, Emprise Group Holdings