Anyone who has ventured out into our local towns and villages over the past few days will have seen the doors of many local businesses open once again. After months of being unable to welcome customers, or having to operate on a very limited basis, it is great to see the streets buzzing with people again; out in support of our thriving business community. Hopefully this will be the start of the road to recovery for small independent businesses, that rely so heavily on footfall, after the impact of Covid-19.
Having had all of our staff working from home from mid-March, our business too has needed to adapt. Luckily, we were already well set up for staff to be able to work remotely, with technology playing a big part in our day-to-day workload.
Although our team adapted brilliantly to working remotely, face to face meetings cannot always be fully replicated online via video call. Some clients have also expressed a preference for coming into the office, and along with the return to work for much of our local economy, we too have decided to open our doors to clients again.
Being in a position to safely be able to welcome clients back for meetings is something we have put a great deal of thought and planning into. At our office at Appleby’s Business Centre in Grasscroft, we have made a number of adaptations to make our office ‘Covid-secure’, including the installation of Perspex screens on our reception desk and in our boardroom. We have masks and hand sanitisers available for clients to use and in order to allow for social distancing, we have measured out floor stickers in our entrance and client meeting rooms.
To ensure the safety of all clients visiting us, our meeting rooms are cleaned down thoroughly after each appointment. For the time being, we are operating on a pre-booked appointment basis only, so are asking clients to call or email ahead to arrange to see one of our solicitors.
Throughout this pandemic, we have put the safety of our staff and clients at the forefront and we will continue to do so as we begin to welcome clients back into the office for appointments. Of course, we recognise that not all clients will wish to come into our offices, and as such, we will continue to offer video meetings where clients prefer this.
We look forward to seeing clients – either remotely or in person – very soon. Please get in touch with us to speak to one of our solicitors or arrange an appointment.
