Your Total Guide To Business

My Strategy For Surviving Corona Virus

By Peter Bowen, CEO of Access Displays Ltd which is an exhibition and displays solutions provider and has been in business for 30 years. The brand also runs The Design Shop (Swindon) Ltd which is home to a unique collection of talented carpenters specialising in the construction of custom fitted kitchens, bedroom furniture and home offices.

When did you realise the Coronavirus could be a problem for you and your business?

We build exhibition stands for a global client base around the world. Our industry was one of the first to be impacted with shows being cancelled in China back in December followed by Italy and Germany in early March.

Initially shows were postponed to the autumn but now many have been cancelled or moved to 2021. With a reliance on international visitors and a global travel ban our industry simply ground to a halt.

The first major International show to be cancelled in the UK was Farnborough Air show where we were building a number of very large stands for important American clients. This caused a domino effect of cancellations.

What has been your plan to continue?

We can’t influence a global travel ban so we have concentrated on the domestic market with The Design Shop (Swindon) Ltd and pivoted Access Displays to focus on other products and services where there is an immediate need such as implementing social distancing and offering hygiene solutions.

What have you seen in business which is positive?

Seeing how resilient and creative some entrepreneurs are. People trying and succeeding at things they never thought they could do.

What advice would you give to others in business?

Take decisions with your head not your heart and be realistic. In our experience it generally takes three years for our industry to return to normal after a significant event such as 9/11 or Covid19 so plan for the short and medium term and don’t be over ambitious. Keep talking to your customers.

What can we do to help each other?

Take time to listen to others, share more positive news than negative, and reassure those with less experience, that things will get better. Keep in regular contact with staff so they know what your plans and thoughts are.

What do you think can be learned from this in the business world?

Business will undoubtedly change and possibly forever. Perhaps some companies will source and trade more locally but the main lesson is to have a diverse and robust supply chain.

Your parting thought?

There are generally three types of companies out there:

Those that do nothing because they are scared or unsure what to do.
Those that will continue to do what they have always done in the hope that things will return to normal.
Those that will remember this moment as the time when they did something differently and never looked back.

For more information visit www.accessdisplays.co.uk or The Design Shop (Swindon) Ltd www.design-shop.co.uk

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