An update for our suppliers - Tuesday 31 August

We’re aware there will be circumstances where Auckland and Northland based suppliers will be required to travel outside of their region to complete essential work in locations which have moved to Alert Level 3.  Additionally, suppliers located in a region in Alert Level 3, may require crossing the Auckland or Northland borders to complete essential work. If this is the case, you will require a travel exemption via an essential services letter. This letter, along with an approved Business Travel request from MBIE, will act as a travel exemption and enable you to cross the Police borders. Only the essential work described within an approved request can be completed. The Auckland or Northland based resource will also need to continue to follow Level 4 regulations regardless of where they are located.

If you think this applies to you, we ask that you apply for this request by using the link provided here and we will review this request in line with strict Government guidelines. If Spark approves this request, you will also need to gain separate approval from MBIE. More information on this process can be found here. 

What does Alert Level 3 mean for Spark people? 

The advice from the Government for Alert Level 3 is very clear, people should continue to work from home where they can. This means for our people that we will continue with our remote ways of working for the majority of our teams. 

During Alert Level 4 our frontline teams delivering essential services at our customer sites and key Spark sites continue to operate. We have very strict practices in place to ensure physical distancing between our people. This included splitting teams and locations, for example we isolated certain floors and teams within buildings to keep our people safe and ensure we preserve our ability to deliver pivotal services to New Zealanders and our customers. This will remain the same at Alert Level 3. 

What does Alert Level 3 mean for Spark’s suppliers?

Essentially there is no material difference in our ways of working with suppliers between Alert Levels 3 and 4. 

For those regions who are moving to Level 3, Spark’s buildings will be operating with 24 x 7 access, which means only individuals that have 24x7 access control will be able to access Spark’s buildings. 

At Level 4 all Spark’s buildings are completely locked down, which means access cards won’t work. This effects exchange buildings, data centres, retail stores and all office buildings. It’s essential that we know who is in our buildings, so we’re asking everyone who needs to gain access to a site to request permission by calling the Spark SOC team (0800 10 30 60 and select Option 3).

Please ensure that you clearly set out why you are needing to access the building to assist with the approval process. Spark SOC will assist you with gaining exemption approval or with a follow up email when required. If you’re reading this and are inside a Spark building right now, we recommend you do this now to reactivate your card immediately.

For those working onsite at one of our EDC's (Emergency Distribution Sites), your access will continue to work for the rest of the day. We will then make sure that anyone who is scheduled to work at an EDC has access provided for the days they will be onsite, though it will not be set up as permanent access.