Coronavirus update: the latest news from East Midlands businesses

We spoke to Lauren Allen, regional business director at Frontline Recruitment, about how his business has reacted to the lockdown conditions.

Do you think businesses were guilty of not taking Covid-19 seriously at first?
I think so. Here at Frontline we were on high alert immediately but it probably took until just before the lockdown for some of the business world to react. As a business supplying hundreds of clients, we try to be proactive. We monitored and reviewed what was happening globally and ensured we did not make any rash decisions.

What were the first signals for you, as a business, that it was serious?
As early as January. It became clear that our clients that imported from China were being impacted and this in turn halted the UK supply chain in some areas.

What was the first things that Frontline put in place in the first week of lockdown?
The directors and senior management team held several conference calls to discuss options available to maintain a first class service to our candidates and clients. Owing to our diverse client base we split our network into home and office based hubs. With some focusing specifically on COVID-19 key sectors and the others on the everyday business.

Have you suffered from a lack of candidates – or have people been keen to work?
I guess this has been the biggest surprise. Although our availability has always been outstanding, even though the media has painted a grim picture of COVID-19. I was sure more people would be reluctant to work. In fact the opposite has been true and the great British spirit has shone though. All the industrial temporary vacancies have been filled in a matter of minutes.

What sectors have gone into hibernation and which have ramped up their work?
As expected and forecasted, permanent recruitment has taken a major hit. Other areas that can`t comply with the COVID-19 guidelines have obviously closed. We have also seen a major decrease in clients that supply into schools, colleges and universities.

How has this changed Frontline as a company?
Like a lot of companies we have had to adapt. We have tailored our approach which has led to unexpected opportunities and new clients in new sectors.

How do you see the rest of the year playing out?
Until we understand how the lockdown exit plan will be delivered many companies will sit and wait and utilise government funding. My guess is a sliding scale of furlough and normal service resuming about September time.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from the past two months?
Rather than lesson, it’s demonstrated what great people we have in the business, who have all rallied together in this tough time.

IN a bid to encourage the people of Nottinghamshire to remain physically and mentally active during the lockdown, Notts County FC Football in the Community has teamed up with the Get Out Get Active Nottingham and This Girl Can Nottingham projects, hosted by Nottingham City Council to deliver the inaugural #StaySafeStayActive campaign.

The newly launched campaign – which offers members of the public easily accessible online content – includes several interactive sessions, such as exercise tutorials and mindfulness techniques, to demonstrate some of the ways that people can continue to remain active, healthy and strong while based at home.

Emma Trent, head of programmes at Notts County FC Football in the Community, said: “Notts County Football in the Community has a proud history of working within the local community to promote increased health and wellbeing and we are grateful to be able to partner with the Get Out Get Active Nottingham and This Girl Can Nottingham to launch this exciting new campaign.”

Several local organisations and community delivery partners have also pledged their support to #StaySafeStayActive to encourage people to look after their physical and mental health while ensuring to follow the government’s social distancing guidelines.

Claudia Russell, assistant inclusive sports officer at Nottingham City Council, said: “Get Out Get Active Nottingham and This Girl Can Nottingham are extremely excited to be working with Notts County FC Football in the Community on our #StaySafeStayActive campaign, an initiative to work collaboratively with deliverers across the city committed to ensuring we support people to stay safe and stay active whilst practising social distancing.

“Whilst we know that these are really challenging times for people, we want to support people to stay as healthy as possible, as we know that keeping active to encourage positive mental wellbeing is more important than ever. Therefore, we are really proud to work with our fantastic partners at Notts County FC Football in the Community to keep Nottingham moving and supporting people to stay safe, stay strong and stay healthy.”

Additionally, the initiative looks to work with a number of local care homes and NCH independent living schemes to provide innovative forms of stimulation and activation for older individuals living in residential care.

Trent added: “We recognise that these are incredibly testing times for all of us, but our aim is that, by engaging with this new campaign, the people of Nottingham will be able to increase their wellbeing by becoming more active and, therefore, become more resilient to the challenges that we face.”

Martin Stone

Locked-in with… Martin Stone, associate director at digital PR agency Tank

Who are you locked in with?
My husband Robbie and cat Alfie (who isn’t being very helpful).

How has the lockdown and working from home been for you so far?
As a business, we started preparing for homeworking quite far in advance and briefed the team, so when the time came, everyone was up and running quickly. We’re lucky that every aspect of what we do – meeting with clients, writing content, dealing with the media, running social media accounts – can all be handled remotely fairly easily. Our clients span multiple industries from retail and leisure, to professional services and tech, so it’s been interesting seeing the various comms challenges each has faced and helping to overcome them. We’ve certainly had to be incredibly flexible, changing lots of planned activity last minute and developing new short-term strategies.

What has been the best thing about staying in?
In many ways, I think staying in has brought out the best in the team. I knew we had a talented gang, but despite being in different places, this whole experience has bonded us together even more. Everyone has been really supportive, jumping in to help each other out on accounts, dropping food to the front door of someone in the team who had to self-isolate, and coming up with new ideas. We’ve kept the social side going too with virtual team drinks on a Friday and things like Zoom yoga sessions. It’s shown me we have a team that genuinely cares about the business and each other. As an employer, you couldn’t ask for much more.

And what have you missed the most?
Aside from the obvious friends and family – a haircut (not that I have much) and I’m massively missing the gym, although I’ve learnt a million and one things to do with a resistance band!

What previously essential thing have you realised is not actually essential?

We used to spend a lot of time travelling to client meetings, whether that be regionally or to London or Edinburgh and you realise how much dead time travelling creates. I think everyone (team and clients alike) have really enjoyed having video catch ups. Yes, it’s a bit of human interaction but it’s also helped us bond with clients on a more personal level – I’ve been introduced to clients’ kids, had tours of their homes, seen their cats. We’ve been there to help them with their business challenges but also as mates too to help get each other through the tediousness that lockdown can create some days.

What are the changes you’ve made that you plan on continuing when restrictions are lifted? We’ve already spoken about having more video calls and perhaps reducing the number of face-to-face meetings. Ultimately, it creates more time to spend on actually doing client account work and getting great results for them – which makes everyone happy. We’ll be sitting down with the team when we get back too to find out what elements have worked well for them and looking at any changes we can make internally. This whole thing is an important process to learn from.

Have you made progress on any of your bucket list items?
We were due to fly to Mexico at the end of March, so obviously, that was cancelled. I’ve booked to go to Canada next year though, where I have relatives, so I guess that’s part of the way towards scratching something off the bucket list. I also wanted to do more adrenaline type things this year. I got given a bungee jump experience for Christmas, so that’s something I can get booked in when all this is over!

What is the first thing you will do when isolation ends?
If my hairdresser is prepared to come to the gym with me, then I think I can kill two birds with one stone!