Second Covid-19 Update – Reassurance for our clients

Today seems a little surreal; even more surreal than the many days previous if that were possible.

Today is not a normal working Monday. It follows a weekend of activity that further cements the seriousness of the situation we all face. Closures to many well-known businesses, both retail and convenience; restrictions to family routines; family upset pre, during and post remote mothers day greetings; disbelief at the congregation of people on mountains and beaches and eerily quiet roads on the way to the office this morning.

Even I asked myself the question today – should I or should I not continue to attend work as normal?

Crossing the threshold of Pensord and seeing the throng of activity, the determination of our staff to keep the wheels of industry turning whilst following all of the advice and safety measures put in place, was one that gave me hope and determination. We employ many good people and they all care about our clients.

So, our message today is that until we are told to stop, or until we reach a threshold of absentees it is very much business as ‘normal as we can’ at Pensord.

Impacts to Date

We are expecting to lose some staff that have underlying issues who will be advised by government to stay at home for 12 weeks. We cannot change or affect that.

Also, we expect that partners of those who have underlying issues are likely to be expected to self isolate. We cannot change or affect that.

As of this morning we have 15 staff self-isolating across the group, after displaying signs of the virus or living with someone who has. We cannot change or affect that.

Following the closure of schools, we have a small number of employees who have no alternative methods of childcare and so they too have to be absent from work. We cannot affect or change that.

Things We Can and Have Impacted

• Safety measures; sanitising and cleaning regimes are in place throughout our group; observing the 2m rule in our activities.
• Good internal communication and guidance.
• Supply lines of materials with all suppliers are in place.

Immediate Impacts to Clients

We are continuing to produce work and operate as ‘close to normal’ as we can. The absences referred to above will have an impact on turnaround times, that is unavoidable. We believe that most clients, if not all will understand and accept that, as long as we communicate well which we intend to do.

I have been made aware today that the transportation network around the UK have been advised by government to assist and support in prioritising the delivery of essential items, so this is likely to impact the timing of the delivery of printed goods. We will detail more once this becomes clearer.

Likely Next Steps

Who knows? My guess is that the government is likely to step in at some stage and restrict people’s movement. I cannot predict when this might happen or if this may or may not impact our ability to trade. We will just have to deal with the instruction from government when it happens.

We are also today trying to understand the detail behind the governments announcement to cover up to 80% of employee wages. Already it has become clear that this only applies to ‘furloughed workers’ and like every business we need to understand this and consider its impact.

It is my intention to provide further updates as and when things change that may impact our clients.

Should you wish to talk further or raise specific questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to pick up the phone or drop me an email. You can also speak to one of our Business Development Managers who are ready, willing and able to support.

Kindest regards

Darren Coxon
Managing Director