Gate One: COVID-19 – Lessons from helping organisations with their crisis response

by Gate One

The coronavirus outbreak is first and foremost a human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been affected, both directly and indirectly, with economies across the globe significantly impacted. We are currently working with several FTSE 100 companies and other organisations to help them plan and manage their crisis response and thought it might be beneficial to share some of our perspectives on what the current situation means for businesses and how they might choose to respond. Given the fluidity of events, some of these perspectives may rapidly fall out of date. This article reflects Gate One views as of 19th March 2020.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Less than three months ago, China reported the emergence of a new virus to the World Health Organisation. Today, we are facing a global pandemic that has already resulted in unprecedented trading and financial pressures.

The pace at which organisations are having to adapt and respond to the impact of the virus has been extraordinary. Many are facing huge challenges across multiple parts of their business, from managing global supply chains, protecting staff and understanding what this means for their customers, to brushing off dated and incomplete business continuity plans and putting them into action.

There is no doubt that we are entering a period of massive disruption. Smaller organisations that run tight margins and the travel and tourism sector, in particular, are being severely impacted. Others however, such as those in the retail space, could flourish. There is clearly no single outcome for all…

Read the full article on the Gate One website