Ingram Statement Regarding COVID-19 Precautions

London (April 1, 2020) – Ingram Content Group® (“Ingram”) understands that this is a difficult and challenging time, with both personal and business frustrations. We recognize the stress caused by the COVID-19 health crisis, especially to our global employees. The health and well-being of our staff, our customers, and our suppliers are our top priorities and drive every decision we make. 

"This is a difficult time for all of us in the U.K. book trade. I can confirm that Ingram’s operations in the U.K. and U.S., including our U.K. and global Lightning Source® print-on-demand operations, our U.S. export wholesale business, and NBNi, our book distribution business, remain open and are operating in accordance with recommended U.K. government guidelines,” said David Taylor, Ingram’s Senior Vice President Content Acquisition and NBNi Managing Director.

“We’ve seen a strong increase in titles being put into our print-on-demand programme. We encourage publishers to bring as many titles as possible so that we can do our best to keep the supply of books flowing to the market. We’re working directly with many booksellers (Wordery, Book Depository, Paperback Shop, Waterstone’s, Amazon, Blackwell), who are shipping books to consumers’ homes, which is a necessary service,” added David Taylor. 

Here are some of the precautionary steps we are taking during this unprecedented situation: 

• We are following guidance and best practices from the U.K., including the National Health Service, along with other global health agencies. 

• Across all our global facilities, we have ramped up daily cleaning routines of all facilities and equipment and have instructed our employees on recommended hygiene practices such as more frequent handwashing and use of sanitizer. 
• We have established and are enforcing ‘social distancing’ guidelines for our employees. 
• We have placed sanitizing wipe stations at all working entrances. We have also added hand sanitizer stations at key points throughout our facilities. 
• We have a staging process to pass mail and other supplies between facilities and the “outside world” that does not require distribution center and office associates to physically interact. 
• We stagger lunch and break times to reduce the number of people in our break rooms and the cafeteria. 

• We have introduced gaps between shift changes to reduce interaction between employees. 
• Ingram Content Group is encouraging their employees who can effectively work from home to do so.  This is not only protective of those who work from home, but also of those people who need to be at company facilities to do their jobs. We are providing resources to help employees modify how they work and ensuring they have the tools and technology to collaborate with each other and our customers. 
• We are encouraging people who do not feel well or have any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 not to come to work. 
• We are encouraging employees who are considered at higher risk for serious COVID-19 illness not to come to work. 
• We are asking our associates to refrain from travel unless critical and have established quarantine procedures after travel to high-risk areas. 

Ingram Content Group has comprehensive business continuity plans for warehouse operations and manufacturing. We have also planned extensively for the health and safety of our associates at all our worldwide locations. Ingram’s global operation spans multiple warehouses and print on demand facilities and we are fortunate to have a network that allows for the shifting of physical distribution and printing across facilities should a facility temporarily close. 

We continue to help content reach its destination and are well positioned to provide the services that the industry requires during these challenging times. 

About Ingram | www.ingramcontent.com

The world is reading and Ingram Content Group (“Ingram”) connects people with content in all forms. Providing comprehensive services for publishers, retailers, libraries and educators, Ingram makes these services seamless and accessible through technology, innovation and creativity. With an expansive global network of offices and facilities, Ingram’s services include digital and physical book distribution, print-on-demand, and digital learning. Ingram Content Group is a part of Ingram Industries Inc. and includes Ingram Book Group LLC, Ingram Publisher Services LLC, Lightning Source LLC, VitalSource Technologies LLC, Ingram Library Services LLC, and Tennessee Book Company LLC.

Media contact: Shannon Hunt, +1-615-321-3110, shannon@tsgnashville.com

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