We have been busy making plans for the Covid-19 outbreak since January… and we are well prepared.

We have taken significant steps to plan for the spread of the virus, have been updating our business continuity plan and have processes in place which mean that our services can be carried out to the same standard, and with the same level of IT security, if we have to work from outside our office.

Key things to note:

• We have been circulating information to our staff and partners with regard to hygiene and how to suppress the spread of the virus – we are very much behind the idea of getting the basics right around good hygiene practises and hand-washing
• We have been keeping an update-to-date log of all staff / partner travel and providing advice to them when it has involved overseas trips
• Where any of our team are suspected of having symptoms of the virus or having come into contact with those who have had or may be suspected of having had the virus, we are advising them to self-isolate and to take other measures as per Government advice
• Our IT system is fully cloud-based, we have been testing processes within our key teams and thus home-working will have a negligible impact on our ability to provide our services (the majority of our staff / partners use a laptop, with full connectivity to the IT system, and are taking them home each day in case they have to work from home at short notice)
• Our telephone system and switchboard are cloud-based and we will continue to receive calls as normal during any period of home-working. All managers and partners have a company mobile and landline numbers work from an application installed on all laptops and mobiles. We also have a communication system in place to ensure we can contact all of our staff and partners at short notice
• Face-to-face meetings, be they internal, with suppliers or clients, will be scaled back as appropriate and we are making greater use of audio / video conferencing facilities

We are obviously monitoring the situation / advice from Government very closely – please speak with your usual haysmacintyre contact if you have any further questions or concerns.