I can’t believe we’re almost 6 months into the pandemic – where have the last 6 months gone? Ok, I know some of you reading this may feel it’s been the longest 6 months ever, especially if you’re unable to work, but for us it’s gone so quick, and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved.
The majority of our clients are now back working, even if not at full capacity, and the remaining few are staying strong and hopefully will be back up and running to a degree soon. We’re also really proud of how our clients have adapted their businesses over the last few months, looking at ways they can continue to operate, just in a different (safe) way, and some have even started new businesses. We’ve seen our clients supporting one another as well as working with one another too. It’s been a real pleasure to support them and help bring their ideas to life. And we look forward to seeing how things continue to progress and supporting them going forward too.
Our last update on how we are helping our clients through the pandemic was back in April, so I thought now was a good time to give you a further update on everything we’ve been doing.
How we’ve helped and supported our clients
Our weekly calls client calls have now stopped, but we’ve turned these calls into a new value added service – our exclusive community for clients only – Live & learn with PPF. We really enjoyed the weekly calls (taking out the horrible and emotional parts of CV19 – we’re talking about the human connection part here!) and how we were able to build on our relationships with clients, so we wanted to turn this into a permanent feature, to really give value to our clients.
So as I said, the weekly calls may have stopped, but that doesn’t mean we have stopped talking to our clients! We’ve still been sending out updates, and speaking to our clients, ensuring they’re ok and things are back on track, or at least heading that way. And thanks to our weekly calls our relationships with our clients are better, meaning we have more meaningful conversations. We’ve also been keeping our Support Hub up to date and ensuring everyone has the latest information they need, deciphering updates, writing blogs and compiling fact sheets.
We’ve completed 139 furlough claims since the scheme started, meaning many people have been able to keep their jobs. We know not every job could be saved, but the majority for our clients have, thanks to the furlough scheme – so that’s a big yay! Thank you Rishi! Although I don’t think I’ll be listing Furlough Calculations as a skill on my LinkedIn profile just yet – I’ve had enough of furlough to last a lifetime and something I hope we never have to see again haha!!
We’ve also been helping clients with cash flow forecasting, funding applications and getting paid by their customers. We held webinars on Business Continuity Planning and Business Recovery Planning, which really helped our clients to focus on coming out the otherside of the pandemic stronger and with purpose.
PPF Team News
Our new recruit Ellie joined the team, has settled in well, and is doing a fabulous job – she’s even managed to squeeze in her wedding and a honeymoon – congratulations Ellie & Hubby.
We’ve kept up to date with all of our regular work too, ensuring clients had up to date figures to help them plan accordingly, and ensuring all deadlines were met.
Oh – and did I mention – between the team we’ve managed to also homeschool 8 little piglets! (although the summer holidays were a welcomed relief, if only from supervising school work, and we’re all praying they go back to school in September!!).
We’ve also celebrated a few birthdays, including my 40th! Like many others plans had to be cancelled, but it didn’t stop us celebrating – and hey I am totally ok with staying 39 another year 😉
I’ve even managed to get out and support a couple of our local favourite places to eat with the Eat Out to Help Out scheme – although to be fair, I didn’t really need much incentive there – we’ve been supporting our favourites throughout the pandemic by getting takeaways!! But it sure was lovely to have a little normality back, actually get properly dressed up and get out of these four walls for a nice meal.
So that’s why it’s gone so fast for us, it’s been one hell of a coronacoster – and it’s not over yet!
What we’re still doing and still to come
We have more furlough claims to calculate and submit before the scheme closes at the end of October. And then the Bonuses to claim too in February.
We’re still helping clients with Business Recovery Planning – check out the video and all the information you need here.
We have another 2 webinars to come – Know Your Numbers & 3 Essential Tools – which will really help you to understand what your numbers mean and tell you about your business, and also then take that understanding and plan for the coming year. Coronavirus may have caused a (rather big) hiccup for many businesses – but it won’t stop you driving your business forward and achieving your goals.
And full disclaimer – once the final furlough claims are submitted in October I will be taking a well deserved break! I’m managing a day here and there with my family during the summer holidays, and have more or less reclaimed my weekends now, but a proper break is much in need to fully recharge and give my aching brain a rest (as well as give my very patient family some much needed attention).
I’m sure this is not the end of the ride – there will probably be a few more twists and turns to come, but rest assured, we will continue supporting our clients in any way we can. We may not be able to give you a real hug now – but we’re sending out plenty of virtual ones until we can!
Cheryl x
