Features - Page 157

Healthcare product manufacturer Direct Healthcare Solutions is one of many firms across Britain and indeed the wider world that has felt the impact of Covid-19 on its day-to-day operations. Speaking on the Leaders Council podcast, managing director James Puttick explains the importance of strong and collaborative leadership through times of crisis, while health secretary Matt Hancock has made the move of dispensing with Public Health England in favour of a new agency, amid fierce criticism of PHE’s response to the outbreak.

Water companies have been in calls for households to stop using sprinklers and hosepipes as dry weather throughout the spring and August coupled with the UK lockdown has seen UK water usage soar.

New working procedures brought about by necessity because of the Covid-19 pandemic have yielded significant changes in the security industry. The lockdown has seen supply chains run down, the temporary closure of offices has seen demand for property management security services decrease, and the challenging landscape has seen Cumbernauld security firm Portal Security have little alternative but to turn to the government’s furlough scheme. However, while there have been adverse impacts, the firm’s managing director Michael Goldie has noted a significant upturn in demand in the construction industry.

The Peepul Centre social enterprise based in Belgrave, Leicester, has been forced to close most of its facilities due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation locally, prompting uncertainties over its financial future.

The Covid-19 pandemic has proved a significant challenge for many sectors of British industry and the legal sector is one that has not remained unaffected. Indeed, the Ministry of Justice classified lawyers, particularly in the realm of wills and probate, as key workers who should continue to operate through the pandemic.

The Covid-19 lockdown period has brought about much discussion about the future of the conventional office space. With many UK employees having spent months working remotely, there is the possibility of firms jettisoning the costs of office spaces and deploying their workforce to carry out tasks from home in the longer term. However, Roy Dykes, owner of London-based high pressure water jetting equipment and training courses specialist firm, Jetmasters, argues that there should always be a place for the office in the workplace of the future.

While many manufacturers have seen output decline during the Covid-19 pandemic, LEEC Ltd has experienced the opposite. A Nottingham-based specialist in both facility design and the design, manufacture, installation and preventative maintenance of bespoke equipment for laboratory, pathology, forensic, anatomy and research fields, LEEC is a niche manufacturer with a global presence.

As the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forces continued restrictions on international travel, British holidaymakers are abandoning the prospect of heading abroad and are opting instead for a UK staycation, with Britain enjoying some of its hottest temperatures of the year in August.

It is odd for Bryce Dallas Howard to compare herself to a guinea pig at the best of times. Yet Covid-19 ought to have taught us that nothing is unexpected, as the Hollywood star notes: “We are the guinea pigs who are going to take the leap.”

Following the 2016 US election, an Aberdeen newspaper ran the headline: “Aberdeenshire business owner wins presidential election”. Now, some four years later, the North East of Scotland has provided another take on Donald Trump’s appointment to the world’s highest office.

Maria Balshaw’s appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs was controversial for more than her choice of music. The head of the Tate art galleries used the innocuous platform to defend the gallery’s decision to cut some 200 jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

For once, Fleabag and her godmother are on the same page. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Olivia Colman, the actresses responsible for the multi-award-winning show have come together in support of Amazon’s $6 million arts fund, to support those who have suffered as a result of the Covid-crisis.

The demands of the Covid-19 pandemic have meant that by necessity, technology has become a greater part of our day to day lives than ever before. Technological means of maintaining contact remotely, via mediums such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, have replaced more traditional face-to-face encounters, as individuals have swapped the workplace for their own homes during lockdown.

Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, will take on the position of the party’s leader in Holyrood, according to an announcement made late on Tuesday.