The way we work as a business has adapted this year to keep both our clients and staff safe during the pandemic. Here are the key changes we've made and how they'll impact you.
Coronavirus has been spreading throughout the UK since March this year, forcing the public to change the way they live, and businesses to change the way they operate. Whilst cases of the virus have lowered over the past few months, allowing the UK to experience a somewhat normal return to life, recent weeks have seen them on the rise again.
As a result, on 31st October Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke directly to the public on the rise of the Coronavirus cases and announced a second national lockdown. We're writing this 3 days after the PM's announcement.
Mr Johnson said: "It is crucial to grasp this. That the general threat to public health comes not from focusing too much on covid, but from not focusing enough, from failing to get it under control. And so now is the time to take action because there is no alternative. From Thursday until the start of December, you must stay at home."
The four-week "circuit break" will begin this Thursday and will end on the 2nd of December, following which local regions will each return to the three-tiered system unless the Government decides otherwise. You can see the guidance on the national lockdown here.
These restrictions will impact your daily life, as well as how you interact with businesses. Our top priority is to keep our staff and clients safe, and so here's how we're operating as a business for the foreseeable future.
How We're Keeping Everyone Safe
We have made arrangements for the majority of our staff to work from home and so our office communications allow all of our staff to contact you by phone, e-mail or web meeting wherever they are located. These changes should not have any significant impact on the work we do for you or our ability to carry it out.
How Client Meetings Have Changed
Our offices are closed to visitors and we are asking our clients and visitors to request a face-to-face meeting only where it is essential. All other meetings will be held online, via phone, or as a web meeting. If you'd like to book an online meeting, please get in touch here.
If you are attending any of our buildings for an essential meeting, you should know that we have made some changes to ensure that we are adhering to government guidelines on being COVID secure.
Upon arrival, you will be required to wear a face-covering, except if you're exempt. If you do not have one, we can provide you with this.
We also request for both staff and clients to make use of our sanitising stations upon entering or leaving any of our buildings, and to keep a 2-metre distance between people where possible.
Please be aware that we are also supporting the NHS Test and Trace service.
Here's Our Latest Professional Advice
Our mission is to inspire people to plan and achieve their goals, to get their entire financial house in perfect order, and to have a great life. If you think you might need financial, accounting or legal advice, take a look at our website to see how we could help you.
Investment Advice and Planning: Our Financial Planning Team are continuing to provide ongoing guidance and advice to all of our clients based on their own circumstances. You can find our latest advice and comments on investment markets on our Blog. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on new articles. Alternatively, you can read our articles here.
Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney: We have experienced a rise in enquiries for Wills and LPAs, and we would be pleased to help you to make sure that your arrangements are up-to-date. You will need to make a telephone appointment with one of our Solicitors to begin with, so please contact our office here. You should be aware that our Team have a lot of enquiries to deal with, but we are working hard to serve our clients to the high standard that is our hallmark.
Tax and Business Advice and Planning: Our Accounting Team has been helping our business clients to cope with the damaging effects of the crisis on their situations. Take a look at our video on how our Accounting team have been helping businesses to survive and thrive during the pandemic here. If you need help, please contact our Accounting Team for business advice.
To keep up to date with our coronavirus policy, please visit our website here. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch. For up to date information on the Coronavirus pandemic, please go to the NHS and GOV UK website for the latest health information and advice.
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