Vaughan: We’ll not be alone in taking this step
response from employees to the latest move.
“These are exceptional times and we won’t be alone in taking this step and acting to ensure our staff are communicated to and understand what we are doing and why we are doing it,” he said.
“The government’s furlough scheme has allowed us to not have to ask anybody to take unpaid leave, not to have to make any redundancies, not have to do any of the things that every business would have to do otherwise.
“It’s allowed us to retain our people and in the current climate, people are receiving 80 per cent of their salary whilst being away from work.
“I think it’s a brilliant initiative from the government.
“Every single person we spoke to understands the situation.
“We all read the news and see what is going on in the world, so to be able to retain these people during such an unprecedented time is great.
“There are lots and lots of questions of course, some of which we’re working through ourselves, it’s a very movable beast.
“As far as these things go, I would say the reaction has been excellent and the understanding of what we’re trying to achieve here has been excellent.
“It really has shown that more people are bothered about the club thriving and surviving than anything else and everybody wants to do their bit.”
Vaughan confirmed that the club’s training ground base at Broadstreet RFC has been closed down.
He added: “We spoke with the playing department last week, along with a number of other clubs. Our playing department is our biggest cost and whilst the team aren’t playing any games, they will be doing their bit to help, and again, everyone’s support around this difficult situation has demonstrated how we all care and want the club to be successful in the long-term. “We’ve all taken a cut because everyone understands what we need to do. We have built in some stipulations. Anybody earning up to a certain figure is exempt. This covers the whole of our Academy playing squad, for example. “Our guys have been great, the coaches and senior players have been fantastic and helpful in sharing our messages. Everybody buys into it. “We’d like to thank all of our players, coaches and staff for the support and understanding through this difficult time, and we’ll continue to work together to ensure this great club has a great future and can’t wait until we can get back to doing what we love.”