As coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to dominate the news and has been categorised as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, we want to reassure you that we are focused on the health and welfare of both our customers and employees.
Shared below is some of the specific actions that we have taken to minimise disruption and ensure that we can continue to support you in all scenarios.
Prior preparation
A robust approach to risk management and operational effectiveness is integral to our business. We have been prepared for abnormal events for some time through our Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Our BCP identifies the process that Paydata should follow under a wide range of scenarios, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, data breaches, power and transport failures and major sickness outbreaks, such as pandemics.
Operational resilience
Our investment in technology and infrastructure ensures that the business is both robust and adaptable to be able to cope with significant and potentially disruptive events. We are taking the following steps to provide you with a business-as-usual service:
- Our employees can work from home and are able to remotely-access our systems within a secure IT environment / GDPR guidelines. We are also able to redirect customer calls to employee mobile phones.
- We can connect with our customers using video conferencing and will use this to replace face-to-face meetings in the event that:
- Either our customers or Paydata deem travel to be unnecessary or;
- The government limits or ceases non-essential travel.
- All our customer data is secured and accessible remotely. We have sought and received confirmation of our suppliers’ ability to continue operating in all eventualities, including their employees being able to work remotely.
Employee and customer safety
The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees and customers are of paramount importance to us. We are therefore closely monitoring and implementing official guidelines from the Government and health organisations. Actions include:
- Requiring any employees who have travelled to higher risk countries within the previous 14 days to identify themselves. We have then asked them to inform customers and work from home for 14 days as a precaution.
- Asking any employee who feels unwell to not come into work. We have communicated to all employees that if they have flu-like symptoms they should remain at home.
- We are testing a full office closure, so that if the Government recommends all workplace closures, or we feel that this is necessary, then we are ready to respond immediately.
- Continuing to promote good hygiene, with reminder notices in the office of NHS advice relating to hand washing, general hygiene and what to do if you feel unwell. Hand sanitisers and tissues are available in our offices for employees and customers and we have a clear desk policy.
- Asking employees to carefully consider business travel and discuss with customers in the first instance, as we recognise that many customers will also want to minimise their travel and face-to-face contact. Where travel is considered unnecessary, we will facilitate meetings by telephone and video conferencing.
The coronavirus outbreak is clearly a constantly evolving situation both in terms of infection rates and the impact on business. We wanted to take the time to reassure you that we are taking sensible precautions to minimise the potential impact on both our customers and employees, while ensuring we are able to deliver to the same high standards.
Please note
Whilst customers shouldn’t face problems contacting us via the mainline number (+44(0)1733 391377), if for any reason you can’t get through, please use the contact numbers below:
- Tim Kellett: +44(0)1733 372671
- Mel Buchanan: +44(0)7846 966444
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and loyalty. If you have any questions at all, please let us know.
