PLANS FOR OPENING UP
Business leaders tell us their strategies for after the lockdown,
From office blocks to barbershops, Ireland’s businesses are planning for life after lockdown, writes Sean Pollock
SINCE Covid-19 forced the temporary closure of his cinema chain, Graham Spurling’s children may have developed a sweet tooth. The joint managing director of Movies@ Cinemas was forced to bring home some of his cinemas’ snacks before they went out of date, proving too tempting for the children while stuck in lockdown.
“My children were delighted,” he said. “They got the tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, the popcorn and the nachos — they’ve been having great fun.”
While the children have enjoyed the free treats, the lockdown hasn’t been great for business. The spread of Covid-19 has forced Spurling to temporarily close his cinemas, while also raising the question of when he will be able to reopen, even partially, and how his business could eventually operate. Spurling, like business owners across the country, is now thinking about life after lockdown. While his plan to reopen is speculative and will rely mostly on guidance from the Government, he has started to piece together the script of his post-lockdown strategy.
“I’m trying to create this utopian vision of how it could reopen in my head, but in reality, it is just guesswork,” he said. “Anyone who goes on Sky News saying: ‘We will reopen in July’ is living in cloud-cuckoo land, we simply don’t know.”
With preparation in mind, the first thing he has planned for is PPE for staff, including masks, gloves and perspex screens at tills, and plans to sanitise theatres following shows. Spurling is also looking at reducing till operations to keep people separated, as well as thinking about how he can split the way people arrive to the cinema buildings. He has thought about social distancing for customers, potentially limiting the number of operational screens in his cinemas and reducing the seating capacity, only allowing couples to be seated next to each other initially.
Spurling has also been working on the programming at his cinemas, ensuring he selects the right films for a post-lockdown audience. Some distributors have been in touch with him about different movies he might want to show — with Spurling even bagging a few deals in the process.
“You’ve got to have a laugh after this,” he said. “You’ll have to have comedies. I won’t be playing
Contagion.”
Spurling isn’t alone in thinking about how best to reopen his business post-lockdown. A survey by Chambers Ireland found that 85pc of businesses have either closed or limited their operations due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Most of the respondents also indicated they would need at least two weeks’ notice to reopen, with a quarter stating they would require a month.
As the pressure builds on these businesses, which indicated they are still paying average overheads of €2,000 per week despite the shutdown, attention is turning to the Government’s plan to kick-start the economy into action.
On Friday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that the lockdown would continue until May 18, with the economy returning to action from that date over five phases. Each will be split three weeks apart, with the final phase starting on August 10 - when cinemas and gyms may be allowed to reopen.
Construction will be among the first to open. Varadkar confirmed that the current plan is for sectors of the economy operating outdoors, such as construction and gardening, to be allowed to return in the first phase, which begins on May 18.
Rick Larkin, a director of property development and site management company Twinlite, said he has been using the Covid-19 lockdown period to plot his company’s safe return to action.
First on Larkin’s agenda was training staff, providing them access to the Construction Industry Federation’s (CIF) online Covid-19 induction programme. The mandatory programme is designed to help teach construction workers how best to avoid the potential spread of the virus on site.
Larkin has also come up with a set of protocols to ensure those working at his nearly finished site in Dublin remain separate. He is to limit the number of people working in each apartment to two, while also opening the apartment bathrooms to allow for hand-washing.
Larkin has also put in place policies for workers off-site. Those travelling will not be allowed to do so together, unless they live in the same household, while canteens will now be closed.
The restrictions are expected to have a “significant effect” on site productivity, said Larkin. He accepted, however, that without these policies, there could be nothing for his firm to build.
“We are just taking it on the chin,” he said. “It could put productivity down by 30pc. It’s the equivalent of taking a day and a half out of the typical work schedule.”
Certain parts of the manufacturing industry will also be casting an eye over the proposed reopening of construction sites, particularly given the need to produce critical products for the sector.
Martin McVicar, managing director of Combilift, a Monaghan-based manufacturer of forklift trucks, has been working on a plan to slowly and safely ramp his 600-person strong facility up to full production.
Currently, Combilift, which this week launched a new ventilator system, is operational, as it provides products in the essential business category to the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The operation has been scaled back, however, with fewer than 100 people on site and McVicar estimating that output is at less than 15pc.
“Even if there is no relaxation on May 5, we can still effectively go back to full production if we follow the guidelines,” he said. “The sooner we can get back a bit closer to normal, the better.”
McVicar has split the facility into eight segments with eight separate canteens, limiting the contact staff can have with one another. He is also planning on implementing two-shift rotations, a morning shift from 6am to 1.45pm and an afternoon shift from 2.15pm to 10pm.
Other measures have also been put in place. Combilift has installed thermal cameras to check the temperatures of staff as they enter and exit work.
Many of Ireland’s corporate workers are also seeking clarity on when they will be able to return to work. Some are anticipating an end to catching up with colleagues over video-conference calls with a return to the daily gossip by the water cooler. However, will such social interactions in the office ever be the same again?
Matt Elliott, chief people officer at Bank of Ireland, said that contingency planning regarding a phased return to work is under way. However, there is an expectation that social distancing will still be required.
“Remote working and video and phone meetings will remain a feature for some time to come as will the heightened cleaning and social distancing measures we’ve put in place,” he said.
“We are ensuring safety is the priority, meaning reviewing everything from desk areas, meeting rooms and phone pods with a view to either reducing their capacity or taking them out of commission if necessary. We may need to stagger start times for lunch and perhaps consider one-way circulation routes so that colleagues are not passing each other in a narrow corridor.”
As professionals return to the streets, retailers will also be looking to open their doors.
With the food and pharmacy retail sectors still open, other retailers are preparing to lift the shutters. Some outlets, like hardware shops, garden centres and repair shops will be allowed to reopen on May 18.
Retail Excellence, an industry lobby group, suggested that retailers who are allowed to reopen may require to temperature-test staff, enforce staff hand-washing every hour, ensure customers wear PPE and design new layouts to help social distancing. In large shopping centres, infrared thermometers to test temperatures may also be required.
Hospitality will also be looking to make a return, hoping to sate the appetites of shoppers and those returning to work.
While many pubs expect they will remain closed for some time to come, some restaurants are preparing themselves for the “new normal”.
Brian Montague, the founder of the Winding Stair Group, which has restaurants across Dublin including The Winding Stair and The Woollen Mills, said he had a speculative plan in place for a return to business.
He believes there will be a phased return to action. Phase one could see restaurants reopen at peak hours, in the evenings and at weekends, with occupancy reduced due to ensuring social distancing and limited menus. Eventually, these phases would build up to the return of full service, perhaps by next spring.
Montague added he would also have to start thinking about some safety measures within the restaurants. He knows he may have to consider face masks for staff and barriers at counters, depending on future guidelines.
He believes some of the new ideas implemented by restaurants may become permanent features of the trade in the future. “I think it might mean that restaurants will develop offerings which are beyond what we have typically done,” said Montague. “The takeaway aspect, particularly at small restaurants, may work long-term. Off sales on booze are difficult as our licences don’t cover that, but we might see restaurants start to apply for that.”
Another part of hospitality hoping to begin a phased return is the hotel industry. Pat McCann, chief executive of Dalata, a listed company which owns the Maldron and Clayton chains of hotels, said there is a sense among businesses that things need to start moving again.
He said the reopening of Dalata’s hotels would be done on a phased basis, with each hotel opened differently from the other.
His hotels would reopen certain areas at different times, with rooms coming first and share spaces, like lounges and fitness centres, later.
McCann admitted the hotels would initially operate at a loss for a short time, and that it would take some time for the business to ramp up. “We have taken the view that with an occupancy of 30-35pc that we [would be] in the territory where we start to at least cover our costs,” he said.
With Dalata not set to open its gym facilities initially, will others seek to push ahead?
Ben Dunne, the founder of Ben Dunne Gyms, said he wasn’t thinking beyond the current phase of lockdown. He is currently most concerned about the well-being of his staff and clients. Despite this, Dunne said he had heard that other gyms were looking at ways of implementing the two-metre social distancing rules in their clubs. He doesn’t feel this would be a viable option.
“Our business was not designed for that type of operation,” he said. “A load of gyms were not designed for two-metre social distancing.”
Hugh McAllister, a co-founder of men’s hair salon chain The Grafton Barber, has his sights on a return to business when the guidelines allow. He said the company would consider implementing strict maximum occupancy limits and may also implement an appointment-only system to limit those numbers further.
Staff at the barbershops may also be required to wear face masks or plastic visors and sanitise each chair following their clients’ visit. Stores may also extend opening hours to facilitate the expected backlog in customers, as people seek to remedy their longer than usual lockdown locks.
Social distancing isn’t just an issue for the barbershops, however.
To enable the return to action, public transport planners will have to prepare for how they operate busier services under social distancing guidelines.
Brendan Crowley, managing director of Wexford Bus, said his business is still operating a reduced service, mainly focussed on providing transport to essential workers, carrying around 5pc of its usual volume of customers.
He has started preparing the company for the different phases of the lockdown coming to an end.
Wexford Bus is embarking on a series of alterations to its buses to ensure it can maintain safety. It has implemented plexiglass screens segregating passengers from the drivers while boarding. It has also started rolling out contactless payments on the buses, helping to reduce the handling of cash.
As the various parts of the economy reopen, Crowley does have concerns over managing the increased demand that comes with shipping more workers backwards and forwards.
“It’s a big issue,” he said. “We run 55-seat coaches. Under the current social distancing guidelines, we can only carry around 14 on board. We are a commercial operator running public transport, and it has to pay for itself.”
Looking to the future, Crowley believes now is a time for Ireland to recalibrate and tackle issues such as climate change and road congestion. When it comes to starting Ireland’s economic engine back up, Crowley believes public transport providers will play a central role.
“Public transport is the key enabler here,” he said. “When things start to come back, and people have to get back to work, if there isn’t a public transport system, they won’t be able to. It’s important this is recognised.”