Notice Board
Reflections of an MD
A year of running a business during a pandemic
Colin Campbell , Codelocks MD
» AT THE START OF 2020 , I HAD BIG plans for Codelocks , and a clear vision of the year ahead . We had developed the largest new product initiative in the history of Codelocks – many of them aimed at rental markets , which were a booming industry back then . We were also developing products and technologies aimed at niche markets – such as recording studios , or urban cycle storage solutions .
If you ’ d have asked me at the time what the biggest challenge would be over the next year , I ’ d have probably said : ‘ Brexit ’. There was a lot of global uncertainty in terms of markets , in terms of free trade and trade barriers that may happen , and we were looking for clarity from the government to help us make good management decisions .
All that changed pretty quickly as the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear . As the pandemic worsened the four questions I faced were :
• How to secure an ongoing product supply , whether this be components or finished goods ?
• How could my staff continue to work and collaborate safely and securely ?
• How would we be able to continue to deliver our products to customers ?
• How would we continue to innovate – and should we change our plans ?
I did take the decision , very early on , to furlough some staff , which allowed us to deal with the immediate shock of lockdown . I talked through the process , and asked for volunteers , rather than making the decisions for them . Once we realised that lockdown was going to be an ongoing situation , we invested in collaboration software and equipped the team with everything they needed to work remotely from home .
As lockdown extended , I realised that we had to do a lot more to support individuals , whether on furlough or working remotely , as it was easy for them to feel isolated – affecting mental health . We organised various social events , including virtual drinks , quizzes , coffee mornings and of course , a Christmas party .
In terms of continuing to get our products to market the Government told many construction suppliers early on that they were an essential service to the NHS and could remain open . Plus of course , all of our products are available on-line , on our own website as well as through partners .
‘ I was of course asking myself – how can our contactless access solutions help with the current situation and the need for social distancing ?’
We did , however , initially experience some delays with our supply chain , and some products had to be launched later than planned . The delays also gave us time to think about what products we should be launching . In the midst of a pandemic , I was of course asking myself – ‘ how can our contactless access solutions help with the current situation and the need for social distancing ?’
As a business that has been operating in the access control market for 30 years , we ’ re able to react fairly swiftly in situations like this – and get products to market pretty quickly . Many of our access solutions do already have an advantage over the traditional lock and key . Our Smart Locks , for example , enable facilities managers to grant access to delivery drivers or other visitors without actually being on site – they can simply text a single use code . But we wanted to go a step further – particularly to help our customers in the rental sector , and in hospitality , who were facing particular uncertainty .
So , we partnered with another company to quickly roll out the hugely successful Clean by Codelocks . Clean is a special nano-tech coating that combats SARS- CoV-2 coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) and can reduce bacterial growth by 99.96 %* – and it ’ s now available with any of our existing products . Our keyless access solutions , combined with Clean by Codelocks , can help any organisation protect staff and visitors from viruses , bacteria and germs – and can help hospitality and businesses to do all they can to meet requirements for re-opening .
Looking back , the advice I ’ d give to any other MD or business owner would be :
• Ensure you have remote working systems and processes in place .
• Make sure your systems are secure and do not forget about GDPR .
• Take time to assess the situation to rethink and revise your plans .
• Where possible , turn problems into opportunities .
• Adapt your products or services ( or create new ones ).
• Look after your staff – you ’ ll need them when it ’ s over .
It ’ s been a challenging year , for sure , but we ’ re a resilient business , and still have significant investments planned for the near future .
www . codelocks . com
8
SEP / OCT 2021
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