To say it is business as usual these days is almost impossible. Here at Pexhurst, we’re proud of the efforts we’ve gone to, ensuring business continuity, especially when it comes to finance and business operations. In this two-part series, we hear from Penny Dew, Pexhurst Finance Director and three colleagues – Pambos Patsalides, Laura Ambrose and Paul Reynolds – from our accountants and business advisers Haslers about how they’ve adapted to, and overcome, the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
How has the pandemic affected the day to day financial reporting and processes at Pexhurst and Haslers?
Penny Dew: It’s been great to see how robust our processes are; despite everyone suddenly being forced to work remotely, our cloud-based systems and Sage software meant work, including finance and payroll, could continue almost as normal. In terms of keeping the board of directors up to date, reporting has been more important than ever, but because this is something we already had in place, the only real difference has been the use of MS Teams instead of the boardroom.
Laura Ambrose: We’ve had a similar experience at Haslers. Thanks to our IT infrastructure and the collaboration of all our partners and staff, we were immediately able to adapt to remote working and continue with our reporting responsibilities to our clients. Despite businesses being given an additional three months to file accounts, many of our clients have opted not to use the extension and instead continued working with us. We’ve carried out remote audits by sending information electronically and have effectively held financial close meetings via video conferencing.
What opportunities/challenges have you come up against?
Penny Dew: Digitising processes has been both a challenge and an opportunity. In the pre-coronavirus world, it was easy to carry on doing things the same way just because it worked. The pandemic has forced me to change the way some things are done and has opened my eyes to different and more efficient ways of working going forward.
Paul Reynolds: While effective overall, working from home does present a certain set of challenges, from tech hiccups to making sure everyone feels connected.
Pambos Patsalides: I also think because the lines between work and home are blurred, setting boundaries has been challenging at times; on the other hand, it’s been great to be able to support our clients work through any difficulties they’re facing and help them come out the other side.
Can you talk a bit more about the extra support you’ve provided employees and subcontractors during this period?
Penny Dew: Communication with all employees has been absolutely vital during this period! We kept in touch with those on furlough, even if just for a chat and to make sure they were OK. I am very pleased to say all of our team are now back from furlough and we continue to support all colleagues by being as flexible as possible and helping them with any concerns. We’re working together to get through these unprecedented times at a more personal level whilst continuing to support business needs.
From a subcontractor perspective, we contacted as many as possible very early on to let them know we would continue to make regular payments and process their invoices – we’ve since been told this was very reassuring for them. I’m proud to say that every single week during the pandemic we have managed to send a payment run – a great achievement under the circumstances! This has been vital to the continuity of supply across all our sites. I must give a huge thanks to my colleague Andrew Vint who has worked extremely hard to make this happen.
And how have you been supporting clients at Haslers?
Pambos Patsalides: Primarily we’ve been assisting clients with interpretation of the Government’s support and how it applies to them.
Paul Reynolds: Everything ranging from the deferment of VAT through to obtaining bounce back loans.
Pambos Patsalides: Yes, and sometimes we’re simply a sounding board for clients, making sure we pass on our experience and knowledge.
Laura Ambrose: It’s also important to recognise clients have been affected very differently through all this; some have needed assistance with the furlough scheme, redundancies and business loans, while others have been performing really well. Either way, support and communication with our client base has been a constant.
Stay tuned for part two of this article coming soon…
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