Covid Corporate Behaviour - Winners and Losers

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 BnB 13 Jun 2020

There is a growing conviction that the manner in which businesses have acted during the crisis towards their employees and in relations with government will be fundamental to their futures, dependent, as they all are and ever will be, on customers' goodwill.

These are not my choices but the articles are both current and offer a stark comparison:

https://on.ft.com/3flOH0i

https://on.ft.com/2BXuCyM

How about naming one corporation whose actions during the crisis have encouraged you to up your engagement, and another which has turned you away? Let's hear your reasons.

2
 Andy Hardy 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

Letting Agencies. May they all rot in hell. We are forking out for daughter's house at uni, which she can't live in. The mortgage holder may well be on a mortgage holiday and the letting agent on furlough, but we still have to pay full price. Bastards all.

2
 Xavierpercy 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

I am insured with Admiral and they gave everyone a £25 refund.

The first insurer to do this I think

 ClimberEd 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

To observe, in both those cases the companies are responding to the impact of the pandemic.

Ikea has found they haven't been impacted as much as expected, and perhaps very little when extrapolated over the whole year so they don't need government help.

BA are screwed, as are all other airlines, as the jobs aren't there when the government help runs out, so  staff - as variable costs - are getting the brunt of it. 

BA could be more tactful, but applying a bit of thought I really don't see a 'stark comparison', as you put it

2
 wintertree 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

I’ve been very happy with our local Co Op which I assume is following the same practice as the wider business.  Quick, efficient changes, no price gouging, clear communications and appear to be protecting staff welfare significantly.  Generally the supermarket giants seem to have behaved admirably without great price gouging despite clear opportunity and with a lot of challenges thrown at them in short order.

TV Licensing continues to send us hollow threatograms in the mail.  Hardly worth forcing people in to work for.  “Colin Bright” must have kept busy.

In reply to BnB:

I was unsure about the fit of some running shoes at sportsshoes.com so I emailed them. Their staff tried them on in comparison to other shoes for me. Seems like such an obvious solution but I never came across it before Covid. 

eSure tried to put my car insurance up at renewal for no reason other than they thought it worth a try.

 David Riley 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Xavierpercy:

> I am insured with Admiral and they gave everyone a £25 refund.

I'm not insured with Admiral and renewed today for £59.

Good on Admiral.  But don't stop shopping around.

OP BnB 13 Jun 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

I actually think Ikea has acted quite precipitously. It’s one thing to experience a surge in business when consumers come out of lockdown, their pockets full of cash via government handouts and forcibly deferred purchases. It’s another to contemplate spending habits next year when unemployment and depressed production has really started to bite. But their actions show how important social optics are to corporations today. 

BA on the other hand is in a more serious fight for survival and I do acknowledge your point. But they are taking from the taxpayer to pay redundancy cheques for staff who will potentially then be re-engaged on inferior pay and conditions. Pretty much everyone hates BA already so perhaps they are happy to be Millwall. But I’m not sure the consumer will take this lightly.

 Bob Kemp 13 Jun 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

> BA could be more tactful, but applying a bit of thought I really don't see a 'stark comparison', as you put it

Well, IKEA haven't got any Parliamentary committees calling them a 'national disgrace' - pretty stark comparison there I would have thought. 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/13/mps-call-british-airways-a...

OP BnB 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Andy Hardy:

> Letting Agencies. May they all rot in hell. We are forking out for daughter's house at uni, which she can't live in. The mortgage holder may well be on a mortgage holiday and the letting agent on furlough, but we still have to pay full price. Bastards all.

My son was in the same boat but his agent re-let the flat within a few weeks of asking. Not all are bastards.

PS who enjoys “Stath lets flats”? Very funny.

1
 ClimberEd 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Bob Kemp:

Ikea aren't a UK domiciled company. Politicians realise they are in the shit and once again will be out trying to score points, which is their raison d'etre, rather than working out the best way to run the country. 

I'm not sticking up for BA, but it was a lazy comparison to make.

4
 wilkie14c 13 Jun 2020
In reply to wintertree:

We live between 2 co op locals and apart from a butcher and greengrocer who have been delivering weekly, we have basically done the whole of lockdown from co op. Good own brand foods, reasonable cost wise and as you say, clear and concise.

I work for Northern Trains and about a quarter of staff were sent home overnight as HR had gone through everyone’s history and anyone in the at risk groups were immediately sent home to isolate, on full pay. Everyone else has been fully supported the whole way, anyone with symptoms or family symptoms were isolating with no questions asked, trains and mess rooms closed and deep cleaned is anyone had symptoms while at work. All ‘spare train crew’ have been allowed to be ‘spare’ at home on call with the understanding they can get in work in half an hour if needed, this was done to reduce then number of staff sat around in buildings. All management encouraged to do what they can at home. No staff furloughed at all. they have been brilliant, very fortunate for us that the DoT took over the franchise shortly before lockdown, I don’t think we’d had faired as well under the former owners, Arriva.

OP BnB 13 Jun 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

> Ikea aren't a UK domiciled company. Politicians realise they are in the shit and once again will be out trying to score points, which is their raison d'etre, rather than working out the best way to run the country. 

> I'm not sticking up for BA, but it was a lazy comparison to make.

It’s not a lazy comparison. It’s today’s comparison. Taken from two articles set side-by-side in today’s FT.

How about joining in with your own up and down votes?

Post edited at 14:30
2
 Blue Straggler 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Xavierpercy:

> I am insured with Admiral and they gave everyone a £25 refund.

> The first insurer to do this I think

I am being really slow. Why are refunds due from insurers? 

1
 ClimberEd 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

Here we go. 

It was lazy to compare the behaviour of an in demand low budget retailer with a mid priced airline that was struggling pre virus. 

The fact both articles were in the FT was irrelevant. 

7
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> I am being really slow. Why are refunds due from insurers? 


Because no one has been driving, so claims have fallen?

Chris

1
 3 Names 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Xavierpercy:

> I am insured with Admiral and they gave everyone a £25 refund.

Have you had your renewal quote yet?

I got the £25 refund, great. They then upped my renewal quote from £800 to £1647!!!

Ive been with Admiral for about 15years. I was Fuming! I called them up asked them to explain, how it was possible to give me a refund for not using my car, then double my premium, they couldn't.

So im now with the AA £700 for a better deal

 Bob Kemp 13 Jun 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

> Ikea aren't a UK domiciled company. Politicians realise they are in the shit and once again will be out trying to score points, which is their raison d'etre, rather than working out the best way to run the country. 

What have politicians got to do with the original post?

> I'm not sticking up for BA, but it was a lazy comparison to make.

IKEA may not be UK-domiciled, so the comparison isn't exact, but they are here, they have a market here and their customers are here, so using it as an example in contrast to BA makes sense. To say that this was a lazy comparison is both inaccurate and a little churlish. 

 wintertree 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Bob Kemp:

> What have politicians got to do with the original post?

Yes, it’s not political!  Or is it now?

Gone for good 13 Jun 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

Why do you think BA were struggling before the lockdown? They have over £2 billion in cash reserves and are using the lockdown to offer lower pay and worst terms of employment for those left in a job once they have made over 10,000 staff redundant. 

 Bob Kemp 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

> PS who enjoys “Stath lets flats”? Very funny.

When I first saw my son’s shared student house that was the first thing I thought of!

Removed User 13 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

Aldi; they have kept the shelves mostly well filled. Prevented over buying and regulated the number of customers in the shop well so social distencing was observed. Also pleased that they had a significant pay raise this year. They deserve another one.

 nufkin 13 Jun 2020

>  IKEA

Giving out their meatball recipe probably scored them some extra fans

 The New NickB 14 Jun 2020
In reply to Andy Hardy:

> Letting Agencies. May they all rot in hell. We are forking out for daughter's house at uni, which she can't live in. The mortgage holder may well be on a mortgage holiday and the letting agent on furlough, but we still have to pay full price. Bastards all.

A better story for us. We were paying a princely sum to Hello Students for my stepdaughters University flat, which I like to moan about, but basically that's what they cost. However, the contact was until around about now, but for student who had moved out before mid April, the final terms rent wasn't payable. £1,500 or so in the bank for next year.

 Dax H 14 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

It's only a mid sized local business but I'm most impressed with a local company called Leeds Welding. They have designed and built very good quality sanitiser stations that are foot pedal operated. Loads of companies have done the same thing and I get mail after mail offering different ones from £300 and upwards, the Leeds weld one is only £135. They are making a profit but only a minimal one, its more about getting them out there to protect people. 

1
OP BnB 14 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

I’m going to nominate Heineken. On 22nd April, at the height of a crisis that has halved the company’s market, which is evenly split between on- and off-sales, it announced that the board of directors would all sacrifice 20% of their incomes and all their bonus and that shareholders would not receive a dividend. This has since become a standard response for all cash-strapped plcs and would be nothing remarkable if it weren’t for the additional commitment that no structural redundancies would take place in 2020. In the circumstances, that is extraordinary.

Staying with the beery theme, I can’t resist a poke at everyone’s favourite landlord, Tim Martin, of Wetherspoon’s for refusing to pay his staff until furlough payments from the government had started.

Worth remembering next time you fancy a beer. Heineken owns a large pub estate in the UK https://www.starpubs.co.uk.

 Bob Hughes 14 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

Didn’t Morrisons pay all their small food suppliers early at the start of the crisis to help them with cash flow?
 
Edit: found the link https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/03/morrisons-to-immediately-pay-s...

Post edited at 09:14
 Bob Hughes 14 Jun 2020
In reply to Gone for good:

> Why do you think BA were struggling before the lockdown? They have over £2 billion in cash reserves and are using the lockdown to offer lower pay and worst terms of employment for those left in a job once they have made over 10,000 staff redundant. 

2bn is probably about 4 months run rate for them so not that comfy.

 Toerag 14 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

Good - my employer, extra 5 days leave, everyone working from home flexibly. As we've come out of lockdown everyone who wanted to go back to work because WfH wasn't doing it for them has been accomodated.

Bad - Specsavers - they've used the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of a load of staff.

 dunc56 14 Jun 2020
In reply to Xavierpercy:

> I am insured with Admiral and they gave everyone a £25 refund.

> The first insurer to do this I think

I’m with Chris on this. They saw a PR opportunity as people are not driving, so there are way less accidents.

In a similar vein, a very odd thing happened to me. My renewal came through and was less than last year. I did the usual check and couldn’t get it cheaper anywhere - not even as a new customer with the same company. 

The policy is with esure.

 Offwidth 14 Jun 2020
In reply to Gone for good:

Someone has to specialise in defending the indefensible. I wonder if BA are not following Air Italy.

 Lemony 14 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

I've been pretty pleased with how my employer, Sage, has done. From an employee perspective they had clear advice early* and have communicated daily with the whole staff. They got the whole staff working from home well before they needed to and pay a stipend to cover additional costs for those who need it. AFAIK there haven't been any job losses or furloughs though I assume the facilities/catering suppliers will have done.

Externally, as B2B software they've put massive effort into helping businesses negotiate the complexities of accounting for the crisis, pulling together stuff like https://www.sage.com/en-gb/coronavirus/ but also getting the furlough stuff into the payroll products in advance of launch. They've also been very supportive of businesses who are struggling to pay for their products but they're choosing not to publish specifics.

Obviously this kind of software thrives on long term goodwill and the health of the SMEs who are dealing with us so it'd be mad not to be supportive but it's still reassuring to see.

On the negative side I've not really encountered any glaring failures myself.


*I was patient zero in the HQ... Got personal messages from half the executive team check on me.

 Xavierpercy 14 Jun 2020
In reply to dunc56:

My Admiral renewal came through and was about the same and I shopped around and the renewal price was by far the cheapest. So I stayed with them and then got £25 back.

 yorkshire_lad2 15 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

My local postie and local newspaper delivery*: they keep going through it all, smiling cheerfully, and doing their job quietly and efficiently and without fuss.  No-one clapped for them....

*: I suppose a case could be made that there was a risk of transmission as they go from house to house and carry paper objects, but it's up to the householder to take newspaper deliveries and also up to the householder how they treat snail mail deliveries during the pandemic.

 neilh 15 Jun 2020
In reply to BnB:

I have mixed views on BA. They tried a few years ago to manage a change in staff conditions, and had a series of strikes and BA then backed down. New employees are not on the same conditions anyway.

Now the market has changed dramatically for them,. So they probably have little choice but to bring through the changes to bring everybody onto the same contracts.

I drove round Manchester Airports perimeter yesterday whilst  out. It is weird seeing no activity, no car parks full ( weeds growing), roads quiet. I saw 1 plane ( a BA one by chance take off in 2 hours).

TBH I think most companies I have dealt with have dealt with Covid postively.The only exception being the banks , which have big queue on reduced opening hours. most of the people queuing are elderley or need help.( it is not the young or those more digitally aware).Queuing is not good for those people.I am amazed there has not been a fuss over this.

In reply to BnB:

My employer, exemplary behaviour towards employees, supply chain and the local community. Hats off from a cynical trade unionist. 

Caterite. This firm usually supplies pubs, hotels and restaurants. It has diversified to provide a click and collect service for the community. Very low risk, back your car into the loading bay and your shopping is loaded for you. 

Heroes both. 


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