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.
Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor
The Minimum Income Floor for self-employed Universal Credit claimants will remain suspended until the end of April 2021. This means that applications continue to be based on current actual earnings.
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: During the national lockdown our working hours will remain the same (Monday – Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding bank holidays). However, our office will not be open to visitors or for meetings. If you have a pre-arranged meeting we will contact you to rearrange this as a video call or to postpone to a later date. Our team will mostly be working from home during this period, 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.
Deliveries: During the lockdown period, it is still possible to drop off documents to our office via our office letterbox which will be emptied at regular intervals. However, our reception desk will not be staffed and it will not be possible to drop off folders or files which do not fit through our letterbox. If you do need to drop a large delivery, please contact your Rouse Relationship Partner directly to see if an arrangement can be made. We also encourage clients to use our online file sharing platform and portal if you are able to send these electronically to us instead (see below).
How can I send a large document or files to you electronically? With your data security in mind, we encourage clients to send files or documents to us electronically via our ‘Rouse Share’ platform or ‘Oneclick’ client portal / secure workspace rather than by email. Please contact us for a request code/upload link (for Rouse Share) or to be set up on our client portal. These can both be accessed from our Client Zone.
Am I able to arrange a video conference call with my Rouse contact/s? We have accounts with Zoom, Teams and 3CX to offer remote/video meeting facilities. Please arrange your meeting with your Rouse contact/s and let them know if you have a preference between these video conferencing platforms.
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;
