Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Business Continuity Update

During this extraordinary and exceptional time, we want to inform you of the actions we are taking to protect the health and wellbeing of our staff and their families, whilst minimising the disruption to the work we are doing for our clients and maintaining our high standards of service.

We are closely following all Public Health England and World Health Organisation guidance and are ready to adapt to the fast changing situation.In line with that guidance, the measures that we have taken include:

• instructing all of our staff to work from home until further notice, and to avoid unnecessary visits to our offices;
• ensuring that all of our staff can continue to work effectively, and remotely, within our secure and resilient IT environment;
• limiting non-essential travel and face to face meetings;
• advising our staff to follow the government guidance on self-isolation; and
• keeping in constant touch to give regular guidance.

To help us avoid putting you and others at risk, whilst ensuring minimal impact on our communication with you, we are asking that you only request face to face meetings where there is no practical alternative, and wherever possible please communicate with us:

• by email, rather than post; or
• by telephone, using the relevant individual's mobile wherever possible, or otherwise their direct line - you can find these on our website.

We are also acutely aware of the deep impact that the coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on our clients, their staff and businesses. As well as speaking to you about the challenges that you are facing and providing practical advice on specific issues, we continue to issue guidance and thought leadership through bulletins and the Coronavirus section of our website (https://www.freeths.co.uk/coronavirus/), which includes details of our Coronavirus Helpline.

If you have any questions about any of the above or wish to discuss it with us, please speak to any of your usual contacts.As ever, we continue to put the best interests of our clients and our people at the heart of everything we do, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with you through these difficult times.