Our youngsters are all fine crafsmen in their own right, some of them with several years’ experience, and they did a great job. Nonetheless, the evolving crisis meant we had to close production entirely after a week or so, as sweeping lockdown measures were put in place throughout the land.
It has been frustrating to be unable to make our scissors and shears during this time, but it seems we are finally starting to turn a corner. As parts of the economy have gradually started firing back up in the last week or so, so too has our workshop.
Last Wednesday, our most experienced putter-in-training, Sam, and Jonathan, who started more recently but is learning fast, returned to the workshop and started doing the groundwork needed for production to get off to a flying start when we fully reopen. As things stand, they are working three days a week to put us in the best position possible.
Throughout social distancing and lockdown, not a day has gone by when we haven’t received wonderful messages of support from our customers. It’s thanks to all of you that we’re making it through this strange time with smiles on our faces.
HERE’S OUR PLAN TO FULFIL OUR EXISTING BACKORDERS
By very early into our workshop closure, we had sold out of most of the scissors in the Ernest Wright range. Orders were still coming in thick and fast, so we made the decision to continue accepting backorders, with the proviso that these might take some time to fulfil, taking into account the workshop closure and the production timescale required to make the scissors after lockdown.
Just this week, we have started preparing to fulfil these backorders, including making sure all the required materials are in stock, and making adjustments to scissors that didn’t pass quality control before lockdown.
Slowly but surely, we are now starting to deliver your backordered scissors. We will do so on a first-ordered, first-delivered basis, meaning the oldest orders will be going out first. Two weeks from now, we will start sending out batches of scissors on a much larger scale.
In the meantime, we would like to give our sincere thanks to all those of you who have placed a backorder. We’ll be working our socks off to fulfil your order in style, just as soon as we can.
SILVER LININGS
Among all the upset of the coronavirus crisis, there have been some incredible silver linings for Ernest Wright.
One of the brightest of these was the release of a Business Insider documentary about Ernest Wright on YouTube, which currently has 2 million plays and counting! This film has massively increased global awareness of what we do, and we have gained a tremendous amount of new supporters and customers around the world as a result. It is an honour and a motivation to know the craftmanship and quality we cherish is so respected all over the world.
But the brightest silver lining of all, without a doubt, has been your continued support. Please accept our thanks, and also our promise that we will give you an update on our progress as soon as we have one to give.
Best wishes,
The Ernest Wright Team
