It was the date in March of the dreaded announcement by Boris declaring a nationwide lockdown, and the date which changed my way of thinking, conducting business, looking after our clients, our staff and our processes which will affect the way we move forward over time.

Looking back, I am proud to say that we didn’t panic, feeling confident in our disaster recovery plan and the strength of our team.

With immediate effect, our optic was structured and we knew how we would run our business over the next rough months, possibly year in order ensure my team was safe and looked after and ensuring our client experience was in fact enhanced and not compromised during these difficult times.

We made the decision to shut the office late March making arrangements for the majority of our staff to work from home, although someone needed to attend to continue to manage the operational functions within the business, which could not be done from home – Yep that was me!

Fond memories of travelling up the motorway at 6am in the morning to ensure that I leave the office prior to 9am before our now only office based staff member arrived, with hardly any traffic, which is a rare sight, looking glamorous as always in my pyjamas and fluffy slippers, and scraped back bun on the top of my head to start, most days a 13 hour shift with ever increasing pressures of COVID related strategies and HR requirements in addition to business operations and compliance.

With a full risk assessment delivered, managing director Jillian then joined me first thing in the mornings and she served me well  - by doing my shredding, emptying the bins and sanitising the office on a daily basis to make sure I left the office prior to 9am! We would often giggle about how lovely our skin felt by not wearing makeup for 3 months, how lovely our hair felt with no heat, and our great our fashion sense became, comparing pyjamas most mornings.

Returning back home from the office for 9.30am in the morning, working in the kitchen with my husband Adam, having to strategically book our conference and phone calls in to avoid interfering with each other, became quite a challenge, but I am pleased to say we both got through it – just …

The daily team Zoom meetings lifted spirits with moments caught on camera which can never be unseen, with partners walking over the landing in their boxer shorts, unaware of their audience, dogs chasing the postman up the drive,  and conversations of other household members which we were not meant to hear.

Having safely phased staff back into the office from 1^st June, those days which became so normal, now seem like a distant memory.  If I am to be honest it has probably been one of the hardest years of my life, not only on a professional basis, but also a personal one, but our hard work, long hours, determination not to be beaten has definitely been worthwhile.

If you want to contact us in the office, please give us a ring on 01246 435 996.