Covid-19

Since March 2020 just like everyone else, we have had to adapt to a different way of working. We all worked from home throughout the lockdown and we were inundated with requests of help and support from clients. Whilst the size and shape of our work changed dramatically overnight, it was really important to us that we supported our clients and their businesses through it as much as possible. We took the decision early on not to charge many of our smaller clients for our assistance in preparing and submitting furlough claims and for the larger clients that we did charge for this work, we did this at cost for many months.

Throughout the lockdown, as the rules and guidance changed daily for employers and businesses alike, we were able to cut through a lot of the noise and avoid information overload in our communications with our clients. Because of the strong working relationships that we have with our clients, we already have a sound understanding and in depth knowledge of their businesses. This meant that we were able to provide relevant and swift support at a time that it was most needed.  Providing support with loan applications was relatively straight forward in most cases as we already had a good understanding of clients’ financial positions, reserves and pre Covid prospects. It was a lot easier to approach banks and funders with this information already largely available.

We have worked incredibly hard throughout this period and it has been difficult to find the balance of looking after the welfare or clients, staff and also our own business. We haven’t always been able to reply to the vast email requests as quickly as we would like to have done and  at times we have had to prioritise those requests that were business critical. There have been times when working from home has not been very efficient for us but on the whole we have been able to support our clients through some very difficult times and we know this will stand us in good stead in our relationships going forward.