As the Covid-19 situation develops, we would like to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to support and minimise the impact of the situation upon those we work with. Our thoughts go out to all those affected.
Across our global office network, we have comprehensive business continuity plans in place in order to safeguard our colleagues, protect the interests of our clients, and maintain uninterrupted levels of service. These plans are under constant review, in order to ensure they are aligned with the latest medical and governmental advice in the countries in which we operate.
It is important that we take a proactive approach to resisting the spread of Covid-19 and we have therefore implemented the following measures across our business:
- Optimisation of our systems, infrastructure and IT to ensure they are robust and able to handle any contingency measures we need to take, such as asking a significant number of our staff to work from home for a prolonged period of time across all of our locations.
- Implementation of agile working practices that enable the staff in our various offices to support each other and work effectively together, and should difficulties arise, be able to immediately adapt to changing circumstances.
- Introduction of rapid response processes for updating staff and introducing new guidelines and working practices in order to respond to changes in approach from public health authorities, government or intellectual property bodies.
In common with other organisations, we have unfortunately found it necessary to suspend all non-essential business travel for the time being. We do however have comprehensive facilities available for both telephone and video conferencing for internal and client meetings. These facilities will also enable us to minimise any disruption in our dealings with intellectual property authorities, governmental institutions and judicial bodies.
We will continue to monitor this situation closely and we will endeavour to update you as circumstances change. If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, then please do contact your regular Marks & Clerk contact.