Cube Corner – December 20

Welcome to the last Cube Corner of 2020, and what a year it has been, there have been so many challenges for all businesses throughout the year with the stop, start nature of the lock downs and different restrictions across the industry sectors. I have been in and around Brighton and Hove throughout the lock down period and it has been really strange seeing the streets so eerily quiet. There are so many businesses that have been a real part of the business community for so many years just closed up which is so sad. The restaurant hospitality and hotel sector has been the area which have suffered the most locally, even after investing in infrastructure to make themselves Covid compliant they have been forced to close, hopefully as we approach 2021 we can help our local community bounce back in the new year.

I think there has been a shift with the public now keen to support the local and independent market.

I have just been reviewing the year with my clients and throughout all sectors they have been forced to re-evaluate their business plan, although it has been very challenging there have also been very valuable lessons learned during the year. The implementation of flexible working has obviously been brought to the forefront of companies plan moving forward, after numerous conversations with owners and employees I think this will continue to evolve as we move forward as each business and each employee have different ways of managing their diaries and tasks. There are some real opportunities to work in an agile and collaborative way, whilst still being home based with new platforms which have come to the forefront.

It has been really interesting to see the work involved with my clients to see how they have evolved over this period, Vince Pemberton and the team at Rivervale have completely re-modelled their work space and have implemented a home based workforce and an office based team to keep the business operating to its full potential. After a challenging couple of months at the start of the lockdown with the shut down of manufacturing plants across UK and Europe, things are now getting back on track with vehicle production now back up to normal levels.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my clients for all their support throughout the year, all of the businesses have come through a tough period to deal with for all of us, but we have all managed to come through with a clear plan ahead, our meetings have had to change a little this year from the normal but we have all managed to adapt, thanks again to the following;

Vince Pemeberton and Neil Chapman at Rivervale

Jason Young at Overline

Bruce Hayter at Rix and Kay

Phil Bristow at Nsure

Stuart Noakes at Carpenter Box

Andy Tugwell at TSS

Glenn Ballard at New World Tech

Paul and Lisa Ollerton at Meyado

Steve Darby and Malcolm Jacobs at City Utilities

Max Robinson at MCR Media

James Johnson at Picture Book Films

Millie Stone at Whitespace

I hope you all have a great xmas break and look forward to seeing you in person in 2021.

Dodge