US giant WL Gore’s facility in Dundee was closed for just two days before getting back up and running again as an essential business on two shifts, with workers given the option to return, it is revealed in this week's Monday Interview.
Plant leader Sheona Barlow, who has been at the firm 34 years after joining aged 17 for a summer job as a receptionist, said the organisation reacted quickly to changing working requirements. She says: “As an enterprise, we always have crisis management plans in place. So we were prepared for some kind of emergency whatever that may be, but not necessarily on the global scale of Covid-19."
In this week's Business Voices, Paul Sheerin, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, says engineers must be supported until demand returns, adding that "the early days of this month the announcement of over 50 per cent job losses at Rolls-Royce Inchinnan was a sharp reminder of the major consequences of a world that is no longer running on the same rules as before, and we should remember that for every OEM (original equipment manufacturer) job lost, that number may multiply by two to three times in its supply chain".
In Mark Williamson's SME Focus this week, Brian Anderson of BA builders talks about the future of housebuilding in the Shetland Islands, where the business is based.
He says: "I expect to bring back all seven staff who were furloughed to progress the projects paused due to the lockdown. I tend to be an optimistic person and I’m pretty sure demand for homes will be similar to before the lockdown."
Read these stories and more in tomorrow's business section print and online editions.
BUSINESS WEEK: Scottish fashion chain axes shops across country with almost 100 jobs lost | Owner of The Dome in Edinburgh speaks out on social distancing | Developer of Glasgow's largest office brings in Covid measures
There will perhaps be little actual detail as Boohoo updates shareholders on how it did in the fist quarter, but eyes are likely to be fixed on the online retailer after weeks of turbulent news.
Investors will hope that the company, involved in a controversial buyout and hit by a short-seller's report, can exert an aura of calm as in its trading update on Wednesday.
In March, just before the UK economy shut down, nervous shareholders sent Boohoo's shares tumbling to only a little over half the value of where they were trading in February.
Investors that stuck with the company, or bought in at a low of 157.5p were rewarded soon after lockdown, as the company ticked back up to as high as 390p per share.
"Boohoo has had its share of ups and downs over the past few years, and this year's share price moves haven't been any different. The online retailer saw record highs in the share price in January before a spectacular Covid-19 collapse to three-year lows, which was then followed by a recovery to new record highs last month," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.
It has been two months since the company announced a strong set of results for last year. Revenues were up by almost half, and profit even more so.
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