It knocked us sideways, but the future’s looking bright

HOW FINANCIAL HELP FROM THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS KEPT JOBS SAFE FOR ONE LOCAL FIRM

LOCAL firms have had a tough time weathering the coronavirus crisis, but many have benefitted from an unprecedented package of UK Government financial support.

For firms like Q-Mass in East Kilbride, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been vital to help them hang on to valued staff. The company is in its 15th year, but as Director Ronnie Robertson explains, lockdown came at the worst time.

“It’s knocked us sideways,” he says. “Before this, we had quite a good order book, with three to four months of work planned, so we were pretty worried where it was going to take us.”

At first he was worried about how he would keep Q-Mass’ 47 staff on the payroll, but then the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was announced. It offers UK Government support to pay 80% of staff ’s wages – up to £2,500 a month – and the scheme has been extended until the end of October.

Q-Mass manufactures bespoke parts for the oil, gas and defence industry so staff training is important. “Our staff are very highly skilled,” says Ronnie, 54. “We’ve gathered a bunch of people here and trained them up and taken on apprentices. We do a lot of training, we’ve got good people. We want to hang on to them.”

He found applying for the furlough scheme quick and simple.

“It was surprisingly easy and we were surprised that the money came through relatively quickly,” he says. Staff at the firm who’ve been furloughed are gradually returning to work, with strict safety measures. “We’ve put a day shift back on and we’ve still got a few office people working at home, with quite a few still on furlough,” says Ronnie.

“We’re just ticking over. We’re trying to cover our costs every month, trying to break even, to stay still. We’re looking at it that if we can stay still we’re doing very well.”

because of the size of the building, maintaining a two-metre distance hasn’t been a problem for returning staff. “It’s been really easy,”

We do a lot of training, we’ve got good people, and we want to hang on to them.

says Ronnie. “We’ve got a big workshop with wide corridors and we’ve got a lot of the doors propped open internally so no one has to touch doors or handles.

“We’ve got a few toilet areas with restrictions on them and a couple of one-way corridors. But the offices are open plan, so there’s no real need for people to be near each other. The workshop’s a big, wide open space and we have to keep cleaning things like photocopiers and touch screens, but it’s been quite straightforward.”

Now Ronnie is looking forward to a brighter future. “I feel like we’re on the side of the valley and we’re looking across to the other side and it looks absolutely fantastic,” he says. “Getting through the next few months is crucial for us. We have a really good bunch of people and we want to hang on to them. The furlough scheme has helped us to do that.”