Firms’ fortunes increasingly diverse as crisis continues
PANEL OF BUSINESS LEADERS REPORTS ON HOW THEY ARE DEALING WITH PANDEMIC
THE Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way businesses operate, with more than half of the UK’S workforce working from home over the spring and summer.
For some businesses this has meant a drastic change in day-today operations, including the use of new technology and equipping staff with the right equipment.
So how have businesses in the Midlands adapted to these changes? What impact has the pandemic had on their way of working?
Reach plc, owner of the Burton Mail and sister company Businesslive has joined forces with sponsor Natwest to run a series of online roundtables, bringing together senior figures from the bank with Midlands business leaders to examine what impact the pandemic has had across the region.
The panel was asked how organisations across the East and West Midlands are managing to get around new ways of working and what they think the future looks like for their businesses.
Helen Cook, chief human resources officer of Natwest Group, said Covid-19 has had a “massive impact” on what the bank is doing, but that one of its biggest priorities has been mental health – and ensuring that employees are being supported.
She said: “We’ve got a lot of focus on mental health because people, especially younger people, are finding it particularly tough, and those who are living alone and people with young people or who have caring responsibilities of any type are really struggling and missing the banter.
“I think the next six months are going to be pretty painful as the days get shorter.
“We’ve pushed so hard on physical, mental and financial wellbeing as a whole, but when you can’t go out for your run at 6am or your waddle at 6pm depending on who you are, what are you going to do?
“So we are doubling down now on resilience and wellbeing.”
Simon Davis, chief executive of Warwick software and data company Nimbus Property Systems, agreed that managing staff who are working from home has been one of the biggest challenges during lockdown. He said: “We’ve had the most remarkable past six months – we’ve hit records, sales and profit margins have gone up significantly.
“We have (Microsoft) Teams meetings and Teams huddles every morning and operationally we were much more efficient, but we are still sociable creatures, we want to have that relationship with each other.
“Having a relationship through Teams or Zoom or whatever, it is very efficient but not very personable and you’re missing that kind of chat and banter.”
“So we created an extra role focusing on mental health and safety and we’ve got the HR ladies doing more calls with staff.
“We’ve only got a team of 25, but it’s still quite a challenge.”
Computer support and services firm ADECS-MAPLE, of Coventry, has also increased its use of technology over the past six months.
Director Amrik Bhambra said: “We went to working from home about a week before lockdown in March because we anticipated what was going to happen.
“We were very fortunate because, being in IT and IT support in particular, during the week when everyone had to go into lockdown, our phones went absolutely manic.
“We are making a profit monthon-month at the moment and have recruited two people.
“That’s an interesting concept, interviewing over Teams.
“One of my new members of staff started earlier this month and I haven’t actually physically met her yet.
“We have already reduced our office space, but we are very conscious some people are stuck in their bedrooms, so we are allowing people to come into the office as and when required.
“But for us, performance management from home is easier because you can have a daily one-to-one with them, you can have a Teams meeting with them, so the change is all positive from our point-of-view.”
Stephen Mcelhone, partner at Leicester law firm BHW Solicitors, said the past few months have been a juggling act for the company as it tries to balance the needs of staff across its entire organisation.
He said: “As of a little over a month ago we’ve had everybody back from furlough and are now back to having people in the office – and that has made a huge difference.
“Anyone who has been a qualified solicitor for a significant period of time can work independently, but it’s a real problem for trainees and paralegals who learn so much by physically being in the same space as more senior colleagues.
“It doesn’t matter how much you structure training, there’s no substitute for the on-the-job learning that you get from being around other people doing the job.
“So it’s about balancing the need of keeping people safe, which is obviously paramount, against a serious obligation to make sure that, for the people we have a commitment to train and bring through the organisation, we are able to do that in a sensible way.”
Mitch Dale, project management director at RG+P Architects, which has offices in Leicester, Birmingham and London, said the firm’s recovery has been slower than expected coming out of lockdown.
He said: “Our turnover over the past six months has reduced by about 25 per cent.
“We’re finding that the market and our future workload is increasing but it is increasing very, very slowly per month, sort of £300,000 to £310,000 to £315,000 whereas initial projections say we’d go up by about £50,000 a month, not creep up.
“So it’s a slower recovery than what we would have hoped.
“We still have about eight people on furlough and we’re just sending letters out to staff at the moment about the change in contract with the Job Support Scheme, and that they will automatically go on two days a week with a view to a constant review of trying to get their hours back up.”
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, summarised the debate.
He said: “Things are starting to get so variable across the board.
“In March, it felt like everyone was in the same situation but right now the recovery, how people are adapting and what they are able to do is increasingly diverse.
“We are seeing that, with businesses, a lot are doing okay but recovery is not as quick as they would have liked and some are slightly ahead of those worsecase projections, others are doing quite well or maybe even up yearon-year.
“We are starting to see some hidden areas of growth, too, so it is very, very mixed.”