At the beginning of 2020, none of us could possibly have forseen the tumultuous events that were about to unfold. Then, the main concerns were the clock running down on the transition period and the pressing need to agree a trade deal with the EU. Important as these issues were, they were about to take a back seat to a global pandemic and the devastating impact it would have on our personal and professional lives.
The initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the associated ever-changing control measures, spread unheard of levels of anxiety, uncertainty and additional costs through all levels of our society. Terms like ‘furlough’,
social distancing’ and ‘R-rate’ came into common usage – both in the media and in day-to-day conversation. There was no escaping the crisis at hand and one word rose to the fore, which perhaps best summed up the situation facing us. ‘Unprecedented’.
To make matters worse, what was initially thought would be a short-term disruption, turned out to be a year-long (and still on-going) devastation of individual and business fortunes. For most businesses, especially smaller enterprises, this has been the most challenging trading environment they have ever faced. With their operations constrained at best, or closed at worst, their turnover and profitability fell off a cliff. Unfortunately, their overheads and compliance costs did not – leaving them with a mountain to climb.