As COVID-19 uncertainty continues, we wish to reassure our clients and contacts that we remain ready to offer our assistance and support.
We aim to support clients, by sharing and discussing the various support measures available to them. As such, we have been sending regular client communications and updates.
With regards to our own services, we also continue to learn and adapt as the landscape changes. Using the systems and technology we have in place, and the keen determination of our team, we are confident that we can continue to deliver a high quality service throughout. We have further details on our services, below.
We would like to extend our thoughts and best wishes to all of our clients, contacts and colleagues during this time.
The Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme provided businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property.
Set up a response team: Assign responsibility, form a team to identify your business vulnerabilities, establish contingency plans and carry out internal communications.
Review your business risks: Review your liquidity, funds held in reserve and your demand side risk, supply chain risk and your workforce mobility.
Confirm your contingency plans:
Assess how a temporary office closure, more expensive suppliers or delivery delays will impact your business. Do you have sufficient cash flow and reserves to overcome these challenges?
Check your supply-chain: Is there any likely disruption to your supply-chain? Consider whether you should ration critical parts, pre-book rail/air-freight capacity, use after-sales stock as a bridge until production restarts or try to gain higher priority from your suppliers.
Review your funding and cash flow support:
Speak to your bank relationship manager about solutions they may be able to offer, such as a temporary overdraft or loan facility. We have been speaking to our contacts at the banks to stay up-to-date with solutions they are offering.
Check your insurance policy: You may need to check the terms and conditions of your insurance policy to ensure that you are covered under your business interruption insurance.
Review your HR policies:
Review your sickness, absence and reporting policies/processes to check they are fit for purpose and are feasible for the business. Are your team able/prepared to work from home and has the technology and systems that will enable this been tested?
Check your audit:
Do your auditors consider the new risks to your business and follow the new guidelines set out by the ICAEW? From an accounting point of view, asset valuations may be impaired and inventories may need to be written off.
Read further commentary from our team on these points here.
Mortgage lenders offer at least a three month mortgage holiday during which time mortgage repayments are frozen. You should speak to your mortgage provide to discuss their terms and eligibility before making a decision.
Advice for those living abroad
Guidance has been issued for British people living or travelling overseas following the outbreak. Find the updated guidance on .gov here.
Self-isolating support
Support is now available for people on low incomes who are unable to work while self-isolating through the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment.
All clients: Please notify us as soon as possible if you experience any business interruption or personal difficulties so that we can prepare and do all we can to assist you.
Office opening and post: Our office is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). There may be periods where the reception desk is not staffed, so we ask for visitors and deliveries to be pre-booked. Many of our team continue to work from home and will be operating a phased return to the office in the coming weeks. But whether we are in the office or working from home, we are contactable on the same phone numbers and emails that you ordinarily use for us.
Meetings: To protect our staff and clients, where possible we would prefer to hold meetings remotely, via one of our video conferencing platforms. However, if this is not possible we are able to hold and attend face-to-face meetings. When arranging your meeting we will ask a few questions to check there is no problem with us meeting. For meetings at our office we have a new arrival procedure and one-way route to meeting rooms, so that social distancing can be observed. We also have Perspex screens in place and hand sanitiser available. We will provide further details of our meeting arrangements prior to your visit.
Payroll: Given the speed of change we urge clients to send payroll information as soon as possible, regardless of previously agreed timetables. This will help us to build in a safety time buffer for any unforeseen disruption.
Audit: We are currently assessing our working practices and talking directly with clients about our plans. We will ensure that we continue to comply fully with the required standards.
Our preparations
To ensure that we can continue to provide our services to clients we have in place:
A remote technology IT system which allows our firm to work from home where necessary;
A phone infrastructure which allows calls to be automatically re-routed to staff who are working from home;
Encrypted file/document sharing platforms eliminating the need to mail or hand deliver sensitive documents;
Video conferencing technology to conduct meetings and connect colleagues in multiple locations;
A response team which is in communication regularly to review and coordinate our actions;
Introducing office safety precautions, including working bubbles, Perspex screens, a one-way system and cleaning/sanitising procedures.
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A remote technology IT system which allows our firm to work from home where necessary;
