CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2020 15 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: 2 was deferred but our engineers continued to work on a number of sites. We completely stopped customer training as we couldn’t envisage a safe environment for this in the early days.” Andy Wright added that localised risk assessments have been carried out at every single one of Sunbelt Rentals’ depots to ensure that a 2m safe working distance could be maintained. “All of our 200 locations are now up and running. Every employee received face masks and every location received temperature measurement guns. We introduced rotational systems so that there were less people in our locations at any point in time. One of the challenges right at the beginning of lockdown was that government guidance was literally changing every day. Myself and the executive team were having online meetings every morning and every night to work out how we could continue to support the business following government advice,” Andy Wright said. CPA President Brian Jones asked the panellists their views on the speed of recovery following the pandemic. Andy Wright believes that it is dependent on the sector you are operating in. In his view, infrastructure may fare better than other sectors due to the high level of government support, but projects in aviation, retail, hospitality and office construction are likely to be under pressure. Andy Wright said: “If you speak to economists, they tell us they expect the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023 to be when we get back to 2019 output levels from a construction perspective. Initially when the crisis happened people were predicting a ‘V’ shape recovery with a sharp hit and then a very fast recovery. I don’t think that’s going to be the case. I feel it’s going to be a slower recovery. It’s going to be more like a tick shape with a sharp hit and then a slower recovery as people get back to work. I think the issue is not so much now, it’s later because there are projects that are up and running now. If we can’t get confidence back in terms of future investment, then there won’t be the projects to replace the ones that are finishing. As soon as the country gets back to work absolutely safely, the sooner the economy will improve and the sooner the confidence levels to invest in new construction projects will rise and new projects will happen.” Brian Stead also talked about other sectors being hit by the pandemic, namely the events market and film and media. He also talked about positives such as a significant upturn in business from large distribution warehouses. As well as working for Nationwide Platforms, Brian Stead is also Chairman of IPAF’s Country Council and he referred to the impact on training. “Initially IPAF stopped its training and we had to consider what to do with PAL cards if they were due to expire. We extended them for a period so people could continue to use them. Training is in two parts - theory and practical. We allowed the theory part to be carried out online. That offering has been available for a number of years but the uptake growth has increased 20 fold during the pandemic. We’re now back into the practical side of training with all the appropriate distancing rules, cleaning of machines and pre-registration procedures. “At Nationwide Platforms, we’re fortunate to be the number one powered access training company in the UK and we’ve been very focused on bringing that revenue stream back into the organisation. It is coming back and those with cards that had expired are desperate to get them renewed. Digital technology is also having a massive impact and it’s allowing virtually everyone to work from home. I think this is going to lead to a sea change in thought processing and it can sometimes be more efficient to work from home,” Brian continued. Sunbelt’s Andy Wright added: “We have to find ways of working with the virus. Technology has advanced tremendously whether you’re using Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Skype. In many cases we’re finding we’re more productive; we’re not spending all our time in our car every day. I think we’re going to find a more flexible working pattern for people. However, human interaction is still really important in terms of building teams and motivation. We still need to provide areas where people can come together in person rather than virtually. “Sales people are also getting more done via video conferencing, as they don’t need to drive miles in between each appointment. Customers now only want you on their sites if there is something very specific and your expertise is required. They don’t want people Andy Wright, Sunbelt Rentals Brian Jones, CPA Brian Stead, Nationwide Platforms Kevin Minton, CPA Andy Burrows, Lynch Plant Hire