Breedon Group, based in Great Britain and Ireland, has announced a series of measures that it will undertake to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

"In light of recent government measures, and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, subcontractors, customers and communities, we have decided temporarily to suspend production at our UK sites, with the exception of our Hope cement plant and those of our operations which serve critical supply needs. During the course of this week we have begun gradually winding down the relevant sites, whilst ensuring that they are in a condition to be quickly and safely brought back online at the appropriate time," said the company in a statement.

Its operations in the Republic of Ireland continue to operate, pending further guidance from the country’s government.

"The group's trading performance in 2020 was until this week broadly in line with our expectations. However, following the more stringent measures introduced by the UK Government on 23 March, there has been an immediate and significant reduction in demand for our products which we expect to continue until restrictions on movement are relaxed," continued the statement.