Coronavirus: Audio-visual lighting firm switches to food delivery to stay afloat
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Employees of UAV SG sorting and loading meals into vehicles for delivery. The audio-visual lighting and logistics firm now sends meals to low-income families and foreign workers quarantined in dormitories.
PHOTO: UAV SG
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With a fleet of vehicles and manpower at the ready but no business amid the coronavirus outbreak, local audio-visual lighting and logistics firm UAV SG had to rethink its business model to stay afloat.
As events were all cancelled, the employees had no work apart from cleaning equipment.
Meanwhile, the company's management was concerned about ongoing costs such as loans and warehouse rental.
Two weeks ago, the firm began doing food delivery, sending food to lower-income families and foreign worker dormitories.
"What we are being paid is not much but, out of goodwill since we are able to do it, we do it," said Mr Surin Venugopal, a director at the company, which started in 2010.
"It's covering the day-to-day operations (with) not much profit, but we can now pay our staff and not have to retrench or dock any pay, even though the events industry is suffering at this time."
The company is using about 13 vehicles and eight of its staff to carry out the deliveries.
Another 10 freelancers from the events industry have also been hired temporarily to help out, allowing them to earn some income.
The firm has applied successfully for an exemption from the Government to carry out such logistics work during the circuit breaker period, said Mr Surin.
One of the jobs they have taken on is delivering 2,400 sponsored meals to low-income families in 975 locations in the south and west regions between 5pm and 7pm, for families to break fast during Ramadan.
Other jobs include delivering thousands of meals daily to foreign workers quarantined in their dormitories.
The firm is happy to be able to help those in need of food during this period, while getting a lifeline too.
Mr Surin said it is also discussing branching out into delivery work permanently after things return to some level of normalcy.
"Since we are able to do this in a systematic manner, we might be able to branch out into it.
"It's a blessing in disguise that we found something new that we can do," he said.
