BPG Business Continuity During the Coronavirus Outbreak
(Updated on 1st June 2020)
General
BPG would like to reassure everyone that we are continuing to monitor the situation on the Coronavirus outbreak including guidance which is provided by HM Government and revise our procedures as appropriate. This includes the duty of care we have to our staff together with the clients, suppliers, consultants and contractors with whom we work on a daily basis. Government advice will continue to inform what we do in the future as guidance continues to evolve.
We have communicated to our staff about how to prevent the spread of Coronavirus as well as actions to be taken in the event that they believe they are suffering symptoms or are generally feeling unwell. Hand sanitiser is available in our office together with anti-bacterial spray and wipes for cleaning surfaces, equipment etc.
Our Business Continuity Plan has been updated to reflect the current situation.
Our Office Activities
During the lockdown period the vast majority of staff have been working from home with a small, intermittent presence in our office in Dorking.
As of 1 June, with the slight easing of restrictions we feel it is the right time to start reintroducing more staff to working in the office. We have taken the measure of splitting the practice into two teams with each team working in the office on different days to minimise the number of people each staff member comes into contact with. Each team will work in the office one or two days per week with the remaining time working from home.
This will allow us to gradually return to normal business operations although we know that it may be some time before everyone is back in the office working together.
The system we have in place for staff to be able to log on remotely to our office servers utilising all of our systems has worked well during the pandemic and this will continue to be the case.
All staff, wherever they may be working are in regular communication with each other via Skype and WhatsApp groups. We are also meeting with clients and contractors through Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Out of Office Activities
The work we undertake means that in normal times we regularly visit clients’ offices, sites, adjoining buildings and suchlike as part of our daily business. Over the last couple of weeks a number of sites have started to open-up and some site visits will be recommencing; these will be undertaken on a pre-booked appointment only basis. Any staff member undertaking a site visit will be provided with the necessary PPE and will follow the specific guidelines laid down by the respective contractor on site.
Should it be deemed necessary to visit individual properties, contact will be made with the tenant/resident beforehand to enquire whether they are happy for a surveyor to call on them (with the necessary PPE) and to ascertain if they are shielding, vulnerable or feeling unwell. This question will be asked again when the surveyor arrives at the property.
We have supplies of protective gloves, face masks and disposable overalls for our staff to use when they are going out of the office.
A number of meetings have been taking place via various video link platforms and these will continue for the foreseeable future.
We will continue to monitor Government advice and as this ever changing situation evolves, further actions or protocols may need to be introduced.