IE
‘We’re all in this together’ has arguably been one of the most overused phrases during the whole of this Pandemic.
While the sentiment might be true, and it was certainly evident when so many people came out for 10 weeks to clap the NHS, it’s obvious that people in front line jobs, young people, deprived communities and certain businesses have been much harder hit than many of us.
In this industry, I think there was a definite sense of togetherness and solidarity around the decision to close our doors and stay at home at the beginning of the crisis to help protect the NHS. While the return to work wasn’t perhaps quite as coordinated and consistent as many would have hoped, there has been an impressive effort amongst the vast majority of suppliers, including Mila, to get back as quickly as possible to something approaching normal service and support our customers as they returned to work.
The fact is though that things aren’t yet back to normal for any of us – and it seems likely that it will be many months before we get to that point.
Businesses across the supply chain have just faced the hardest challenge in their history and are still having to make difficult decisions and adapt to new circumstances every single day. It will certainly take patience and tolerance from customers and suppliers to make sure that, as an industry, we somehow retain that spirit of togetherness and mutual support which existed when we took the collective decision to close.
Sales and enquiries are at a record level for some and, as I posted last week, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the bounce back; and Mila has already made significant new investments in stock in response. However, that bounce back is bringing a whole raft of new pressures for many.
I know that Mila has talked the talk and walked the walk throughout this crisis – everyone in our team has dug deep to provide the products, the support, the information and the advice that customers have needed at every stage. I’m proud of how we have supported our customers and of the support that they have shown us in return. ‘We’re all in this together’ might be overused now but, when our customers are under pressure and our own suppliers are still pulling out all the stops to try to help, it still sums up Mila’s commitment and our approach.
(*this photo was taken before the COVID outbreak)
Richard
