These are testing times but we've remained 100% operational throughout and are here to help you and your business whatever your needs.

At Gosschalks, we have a fantastic team of people all of whom are at the heart of what we do. As such, our priority over since Covid struck has been to ensure the health, wellbeing and safety of the team as a whole so that, as a business, we can continue to provide an exceptional level of service to you, our clients. We have to say, we have been incredibly proud and grateful for what has been an outstanding response from everyone at Gosschalks in these unprecedented circumstances.

Our continuity plan (details below) is in full swing and is working well. As such, please be assured that it is business as usual at Gosschalks.

• Remote working – all of our legal and core support teams are capable of working remotely at full capacity. Everyone has laptops and mobile telephones and can (subject to illness – see below) continue to work in the usual way.

• Secure cloud-based technology – all of our core systems are cloud-based, so secure access to electronic files, documents, emails and records is available 24/7 whether working from the office or remotely.

• Communications – as above, everyone has a modern laptop, soft phones and mobile telephones. When away from the office, all calls to the office and direct numbers will be answered in the usual way. To assist, all such contact details have now been included on our website. We're all equipped with Microsoft Teams for online collaboration, document sharing and video conferencing, where required.

• Illness – in the unfortunate event that one of our team members falls ill, all members of the firm have access to all electronic files, documents etc. and so we can very quickly ensure that work is reallocated and picked up.

• The office – although many of our people are working remotely, the office is COVID compliant and remains open and acts as the central hub of our business and administration function, manned by our dedicated support staff who remain instrumental to the delivery of our usual exceptional service. A rota system is in operation so that our lawyers and support staff can safely attend when necessary.

• Client meetings - We are currently operating a 'by appointment only' system. Deliveries and such like can still be made as usual.

We hope that the above reassures you that all members of our team will continue to be on hand to support you and your businesses whenever required. During these difficult times we are dedicated to providing you all with support and guidance and exceptional service with the minimum of fuss at all times.

Finally, we wish you all well both personally and in your businesses over this very testing period for all of us.