‘When can we get back to work?’

The big question is ‘when can we get back to work?’ It’s a conundrum facing Government, businesses and workers in the UK. What we can be certain of is it will happen sometime in May or June. The pressures on the economy are too extreme for the lockdown to be extended any further. Issues regarding the spread and impact of COVID19 will live long into the future until a vaccine is developed. For this reason we need to ensure our working practices focus on reducing the spread of the virus and the health of workers and customers. It is now time to formulate a strategy that focuses on 1) Safety for factory, admin and sales staff 2) Safety for installer clients and their customers 3) Sales and supply. A fabricator told me he is marking out his factory for social distancing, re-designing the office space, training for remote selling teams (forbidding attendance at mass gatherings) and planning an aggressive marketing campaign as he will need new customers – he admitted he will lose between 20-40% through bad debt/switching suppliers/business closure. I think we are all watching with interest the situation in Spain – where onus is now on the economy over health.

John Cowie – Editor Windows Active Magazine

15.04.20