Category Archives: COVID 19 Business Stories

A new series of articles where businesses share how they have tackled the challenges posed by COVID-19 – and in many cases gone on to thrive.

COVID 19 Business Stories, COVID-19, News

Business revenues down by a third ahead of key holiday season

Despite announcements of additional government support and positive early signs on a variety of potential vaccines, businesses concerns rise ahead of a challenging holiday season. The latest figures from the ongoing ‘Coronavirus – The Impact on Business’ survey – conducted by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) – suggest the optimism felt over the summer months may have dissipated slightly.

The estimates of revenue decline amid the pandemic had improved over the summer, from a low of almost half (-47.2%) in May to around a quarter in September (-27.9%). However, these early signs of recovery appear to have slipped as new restrictions have meant revenue decline has risen to around a third (-34.2%).

In November, the majority (79%) of organisations surveyed reported the economic impact of the pandemic as being negative – with a quarter believing (25%) it will be extremely so. Key concerns about cashflows (76%) and cut-backs (53%) continue to lead the way, but there is also rising sentiment about the burden of social distancing (41%) and restrictions disproportionately impacting certain sectors (38%).

Moreover, 59% of businesses expect to see overall budgets decrease in the coming year, with staffing (59% expect the budget to decrease), marketing (57%), and capital expenditure (56%) expected to be worst hit.

“Across the data and marketing industry, trading remains extremely difficult for many businesses. Revenues remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels and budgets for the coming year look set to be similarly reduced,” says Chris Combemale, CEO of the DMA. “Even as news of positive progress on vaccines offers a beacon of light, many businesses will have to make difficult decisions over the coming months. We welcome the government’s unprecedented support for business and will continue to represent our industry, ensuring it has the assistance it needs.”

Three-quarters (75%) of professionals surveyed reported they are continuing to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel, a rise from 66% in September. They also increasingly expect to remain in this home working environment well into the New Year – on average respondents expected to work from home for around 50 days, up from just under 40 just two months ago.

However, there are some concerns about the ability to continue to serve customers effectively in this environment. Over one in three of the organisations that responded to the survey said their ability to serve customers’ needs was becoming harder (43%) and to carry out marketing was also getting worse (35%).

For full details on the DMA Coronavirus Survey, visit:
https://dma.org.uk/research/coronavirus-november-2020-the-impacts-on-business

COVID 19 Business Stories, News, Thought Leadership

Andrew Pollard: What the surface of the moon can teach us about leadership in the Covid era

In the mid-1960s, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was designing an unmanned moon rover that would carry out survey work ahead of the first moon landing.

The project was led by scientist Phyllis Buwalda, who had been homeschooled on a ranch in Colorado and had a tough, practical intellect. Her team came to her with a problem. We’ve got absolutely no idea what the surface of the moon is like, they said. Is it going to be sandy? Will there be sharp stones? Will it be hilly? We can’t design a vehicle until we know what it’s like.

Phyllis had a brilliant answer. She said: It’s like the desert in the Southwest. Off you go. People asked her afterwards – how did you know? She said: I didn’t. But if I didn’t take away the uncertainty, my team couldn’t do anything, and there wouldn’t be a moon rover. So I just picked out something that I thought was the best bet. And I ruled out things which my team simply couldn’t build for anyway.

Removing uncertainty

For me, this is a really good example of great leadership. Especially now. Because in the era of Covid – and Brexit – it’s vital that business leaders remove some of the uncertainty about things – even if they don’t know the answers themselves.

So if you don’t know what Brexit is going to look like, make a calculated guess.

This lets the rest of the team get on and make the decisions needed to keep the business moving forward. Nailing your colours to the mast and getting cracking is a better strategy than doing nothing. It also helps to create a sense of wellbeing, reducing stress and potential absenteeism.

Leaders need to be particularly focused right now on the challenges their workforce are facing. People are rightly nervous and uncertain. They’re dealing with a whole bunch of anxieties around work, health, looking after loved ones and getting the kids to school.

Leadership style

In this context, leadership style can be as important as the decisions you make.

Traditionally, we tend to associate leadership style with a kind of lone hero figure. A military or political leader like Winston Churchill. Or Steve Jobs – a creative genius type who has insights and abilities that others don’t have.

A lot depends on your sector and context. Churchill’s combative style may have been right to lead the nation to victory in World War II. But it might not work, for example, in a hospice or care home.

Leadership is also a team effort – rather than a purely solo enterprise – for many businesses and sectors. A big organisation like the health service, for example, has multiple leaders.

Challenge and change

For large and small businesses alike, the significant change created by Covid-19 is the biggest challenge they face. Businesses must gear up their leadership and management teams to make these changes possible.

This might include looking for leadership in different parts of your organisation. For example, you may be planning to transition to a more digital environment to reduce your costs. Where will that digital leadership come from? Who in the organisation has got the ability to turn paper processes into digital processes? Or to work out how to retain customer loyalty in a digital world?

One of the greatest leadership qualities is empowering others to lead.

As we all enter uncharted waters – our metaphorical surface of the moon – we might find the real leaders we need are in middle management or customer service – and not in the boardroom.

 

About the author

Andrew Pollard is director of Falkirk-based business consultancy Ahead Business Consulting.

COVID 19 Business Stories, Food & Drink, Hospitality, News

New Online Course Will Help Restaurants and Eateries in Tier 3 Set Up for Delivery

A comprehensive online training course from Virtual College, is assisting local restaurants, cafes, bakeries, farm shops, and all other eating establishments to set up delivery services if forced to close during the pandemic.

Following the end of lockdown, many areas including Manchester, Leeds and Bristol will be placed into Tier 3 meaning that eateries will still remain closed for sit-in customers.

Innovating to provide takeaway and delivery services has been crucial for many hospitality businesses to survive the pandemic, and the specially designed course from online training providers Virtual College ensures independent food businesses have all they need to be able to set up delivery services safely and successfully.

The new course has just launched this year, and is exclusively designed for helping businesses who did not traditionally offer food delivery services to be able to introduce this offering in light of the current circumstances.

The course includes guidance on ensuring UK hygiene regulations are met, adapting to change, and prioritising tasks when introducing a new service.

The programme is split into four sections:

  • Planning for change
  • Social distancing: premises, staff and deliveries
  • Food hygiene and allergens
  • Delivery guidance

It costs only £10 to undertake the food delivery training and the syllabus can be completed with just 30 minutes of study time. Upon completion of the course an instant CPD approved certificate will be awarded.

Rod Knox, CEO of Virtual College says, “We know just how drastically the pandemic has impacted the hospitality industry, and the effect that will be having particularly on small and independent businesses.

We are delighted to be able to offer a detailed training course which can help restaurants and other food businesses successfully adapt to the current circumstances and hopefully come out stronger on the other side.

It has been crucial to us over the last 8 months to be offering training that can truly help and support people during these difficult times, and we are incredibly pleased to be able to do our bit to help the hospitality industry with this course.”

The training is suitable for owners, managers and workers of restaurants, cafes, bakeries, farm shops and other eating establishments which are having to close during these times.

Find out more and buy the course online > https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/courses/food-and-drink/setting-up-your-business-for-food-delivery

 

COVID 19 Business Stories, COVID-19, News

COVID-19 Journeys: Screenworks Transforms To Rebound From Lockdown Losses And Generates New Growth

Duncan Gilmour, managing director at Screenworks explains his Covid-19 journey and the focus ahead

Screenworks is one of the longest established garment embroidery, screen, digital and direct to garment print service providers. Based in Haverhill in Suffolk, the company has been delivering the best in promotional products since 1991 and has a processing capability of 6.5m items per year. Supporting a whole range of sectors, Screenworks produces everything from printed t-shirts for music events, to branded uniforms and embroidered caps and clothing for major sporting events.

 

Covid-19 response and pivot

Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the promotional merchandise industry, with sporting, music and corporate event cancellations across the board.

As a report from Sourcing City[1] highlights: Nervousness entered the market in February, and it will come as no surprise to anyone that enquiries ‘dropped off a cliff’ as soon as the national lockdown kicked in Mid-March 2020. (16.03.2020). Indeed, an immediate impact was felt with a significant decline in industry enquiries for the remainder of March. In April things got dramatically worse with enquiries dropping to 22.6% of the equivalent month in 2019.

At the onset of lockdown, Screenworks massively pared down operations, and furloughed just under three quarters of its workforce – 48 members of staff. It was at this stage that Duncan Gilmour (managing director), and his management team undertook a huge business pivot. Duncan explains:

“Screenworks is a family business, set up by my father in 1976. We are so proud of what we have achieved and our growth to date. Over the last few years, we have been steadily investing and working to become leaders in developing sustainable practices and processes in our sector. For example, we are looking at the use of new to market technical materials and have been consistently investing in equipment to support a more sustainable manufacturing process. It has been a difficult period and we have kept on as many people as we can.

“The printing and promotional product sector has become a forgotten victim of the pandemic. Whilst everyone talks about how travel and hospitality (amongst others) have been impacted, our industry heavily relies on the workflow from promotional events and activities. If these stop then so too does our production line. Even before lockdown, we noticed a knock-on effect in our supply chain as global manufacturing slowed down, but when lockdown came, our sector was facing a real struggle.

“We knew we had to think on our feet, and to come up with something that would not only help to make up the lost sales, but which would also support the future growth of the business and be in line with our goals, working practices and ethics.”

As such, Duncan and his team opted not to take the standard approach of reselling disposable PPE, but instead looked to create a new product that would support the ongoing fight against Covid-19. In June, following a period of comprehensive research and development, Screenworks launched the UK’s first-to-market antiviral facemasks and snoods through a new brand – Bumpaa™.

 

Bumpaa, in partnership with Polygiene, share in worldwide first for ViralOff antiviral treatment achieving a pass for ISO test on Covid19

Since the new products launched, the company has seen weeks with sales in excess of 100,000 units, and more than 1 million of orders placed within the first three months alone. The Bumpaa brand has continued to grow and expand its offering to include an antiviral glove range. 30 per cent of the original workforce are now back at work, supporting the Bumpaa growth, across office and factory floor.

In October 2020, the company reported its biggest month – in terms of sales volumes – since 2019.

The fabric masks are manufactured in the UK and packed at the Screenworks facility in Suffolk. They are manufactured using a technical fabric, which is treated with an anti-viral treatment – ViralOff, a technology which effectively reduces viruses and bacteria on the product by over 99 per cent in two hours*. ViralOff has now become the first commercial textile treatment in the world to pass the ISO method* test on the Covid-19 virus[2], with the Screenworks mask also obtaining this certification.

The treatment is designed to protect the textiles from harbouring viruses or bacteria. It does not interfere with the skin’s natural bacterial flora and lasts for the product’s lifetime. When a mask or snood is safely removed, if any virus or bacteria is present on the surface, 99 per cent will be safely deactivated within a maximum of two hours. For best performance and sustainability, the products should be washed less, only when needed3.

 

The Future

“When lockdown started, we didn’t know what the outcome might be for the future of our business,” adds Duncan.

“Moving forward we are still facing real challenges to keep going through uncertain times. The events and promotions industries are flat and may not return to normal business until Spring 2021 – meaning our day-to-day production lines are not as busy. There are so many unknowns that mean we are already having to scale back before growth. However, when the events industry does return, we will be ready. We have maintained our client contacts and plan to re-hire.

“We are determined to create a strong, positive plan for the future and Covid-19 has shown myself and my team that we can adapt to anything. Our business model has always focused on the trade, but with the new Bumpaa brand we have seen a shift to include selling to end users, either directly, or through resellers. We have learnt through the pandemic that it is crucial to be diverse in both our product offering and the markets we are selling into and this will be a big part of the strategy as we move into 2021.

“The opportunities are endless – when it comes to markets and products. I am so excited by the new phase that Screenworks is now entering. Covid-19 has turned so many businesses on their heads. Being flexible, agile and reactive seem to be the key attributes we all need to adopt.”

Duncan continues: “Putting aside the commercial and financial effects of the pandemic, the human impact has been the hardest to manage. Screenworks is and has always been a business made by its people and the impact of lockdown and the pandemic has been huge.

“The pandemic has delivered some of the toughest days in my 20-year career. We have tried our best to keep the team together, communicating as frequently as we can and I hope I can look back in the years to come and say we did the best we could under very difficult circumstances.”