Workforce: review your key internal policies. Communicate what your people should do if they feel unwell and tell them what is happening with travel bans, sick leave, homeworking, hygiene measures, and strategies to keep the business operating. Employees need to know where they stand and they trust messages from their business leaders.

Customers, suppliers and stakeholders: be proactive and engage with your clients and stakeholders early. Inform your customers of any changes to your services. Customers may need extended terms from you and some suppliers might require different arrangements. Customers need to know that you will be able to service them even at a time of crisis.

Tax and audit: you may need extra time to pay any outstanding tax debt. Enquire about whether you could get a loan or grant or claim a business rates relief discount. Think about if employee absence could cause you to miss a deadline to file. You may be able to delay audit dates or make arrangements for an audit using an off-site approach.

Business continuity: ensure that you have sufficient resources and supplies to outlast the pandemic. Prepare for shortages and price volatility in products and goods not for resale. Your IT network needs to have the capacity and bandwidth for your whole team to work from home at the same time.

Cashflow and insurance: if you foresee that cashflow may be strained, speak early to your finance suppliers about additional headroom and relaxing operational covenants. Take a look at the insurance cover you have, and whether you have a legitimate claim for this kind of disruption.

Monitor the situation: the situation is fluid. It is therefore important that you monitor local and international media and keep up to date using credible sources of information. Speak to one of our experts to discuss concerns and ways to mitigate the impact of the crisis on your business.