coronavirus

13th Oct

Despite the easing of lockdown in London and Sussex, the continued increase in Covid cases means that the threat is still present.

We are therefore maintaining our lockdown policy of no collections from our London office, where there is a higher infection rate, and in Sussex, where the rates are lower we are continuing with the collection service with all collections taking place outside our office. No-one will be allowed into our office, so that we can maintain a save working environment for our staff, which enables us to continue to process your mail.

We suspect that is a long term issue, so see no easing of restrictions this year, with the introduction of the three tier system, if travel bans come into force in London we will review this guidance and update it as soon as possible.

Remember - Hands, Face and Space!!


 

1st June 2020

Thankfully over the last few months whilst the UK has been in lockdown, we have been able to maintain our services and support to all our clients.

This is thanks to our staff who have been great throughout and taken on board all the safety advice and constant handwashing!!

As it look like the lockdown is now easing, we are still facing challenges with dropping mail at post offices etc, but it appears that Royal Mail and the courier companies have coped well and we have been able to forward on your mail without too many problems.

Until we are confident that covid 19 is reducing considerably, we will be maintaining our policy of not letting anyone into the office. Collections for mail from our Polegate office will continue to be conducted outside.

Update
1st April 2020

We are still sending out mail from our London and Sussex office. As much as we would like to work from home at this moment in time, unfortunately our business relies on mail, so impractical for us and it is essential we travel into work.  All our offices are in lockdown, so no-one can enter them and staff are cleaning and disinfecting everyday and taking all necessary precautions to protect themselves.

In London, we have noticed that there have been a few days with no mail and the volumes are very low at the moment, so you may experience a slight delay in getting your mail. We are hoping that there is not a huge backlog in the postal depots waiting for all this to be over. At the moment, we are hoping that the current social restrictions are having an impact and a complete ban on all travel etc will not be required.

In Sussex, similar to London, the mail volumes are lower but we are getting the mail out on time and there doesn't seem to be the same delays as in London. Although, next week the local sorting office is closing by 9am (opening at 7am) and closing Weds, so, they are probably experiencing staffing issues etc. and dragging everyone on the front line to get the mail delivered. Its a tough job that they do, especially at the moment - that goes for all mail/postal delivery drivers!!!

• Banks - amend your bank statements to online/digital and cancel any paper copies sent. Bank cards - if you are expecting a bank card - as a short term measure - get this redirected to our other office - 49 Station Road, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6EA.

• HMRC -  using your gateway ID and password and see if you can amend any communication to email (select any paperless options).Check with your accountant if they receive  duplicate copies of all your correspondence. Regularly check into your online account for any messages.

• Companies House - offer an e-remninders service, rather than receiving a hard copy of reminders. You will need to log into your webfiling account using your company number and authentication code. Webfiling website.

Packages/Signed for Delieveries - London

At our London address, we don't allow the use of the address for packages, but very occasionally they do arrive, please make sure that if you order anything, that the correct address is used, if you need to use our address for a signed for package or small package, please use our Sussex address.

We don't expect our Sussex office to go into lockdown (yet!!) and we plan to keep the London office open as long as we can, but changes and decisions are being made at a faster pace, so will keep you up to date when we can.

If you have any questions please do livechat via our website, email or call us on 01323 484542.

Sussex Office
18th March 2020

We are not expecting any lockdown to affect our Sussex office, the impact may be due to the Royal Mail or Post office service not being able to cope with mail volume if staff are off sick.

We have introduced daily cleaning and regular hand washing in our offices to keep our staff safe and healthy.

We have also introduced a no visitors policy, our doors will be locked and any collections will be made outside the office. This is so we can ensure our working environment is a clean and virus free as possible.
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For our clients in Sussex, it may also be useful to follow the advice we have given to our London clients in order to reduce the amount of mail in the system and to minimise any disruption to your business.

Coronavirus Challenge

During the next few months, we are all going to experience some challenges.

We are planning to continue to support your business and maintain our service levels for as long as we can. We are trying to balance this, with ensuring our staff's safety and health. We are currently working from our offices, but we are not allowing visitors inside to collect mail. It seems that every day there is more advice from Government and have plans in place.

But, as far as we know, based on the experience of other countries, we are probably heading towards a total lockdown and travel restrictions within the UK. Thankfully, this will be a short term measure, but will have long term implications.