To think some have been given the nod?

[whatnow41]

DH works in an industry that has close links to both healthcare and hospitality. Since March he has noticed a pattern of certain very large customers (national chains of pubs or big brands) seeming to know and respond to lockdown and tier information a few days in advance.

In March I was working as a manager for an organisation that supplied call centre workers for the NHS Covid line. We definitely had some kind of a nod. We were told to get as many people as possible WFH in the 2 weeks before lockdown was announced. Literally getting brand new staff in, trained in a day, and out the door again to WFH.

I now work for a call centre again within a very key industry. Beginning of last week, despite our whole call centre being key workers, we began prep for WFH. The management have always said we can't support staff well enough to support customers on a WFH basis due to tenure. 95% staff have less than 3 months as it's a new site.

The positioning statement from our ceo last week was that we were just doing some business readiness planning "in case Boris announces increased levels of restrictions".

Now on the BBC news channel Boris is warning restrictions may be increased.

Some people get the nod, don't they?

Some people pay attention to which way the wind is blowing.

Yes they do. I know someone who is the CEO of what is deemed a systemically important company and they meet regularly with the cabinet ministers and sometimes Boris as the impact of any new restrictions or changes have to be critically examined and analysed which means they have some time to put necessary measures in place

Yes, where I work told us schools were closing last time the day it was announced

I’m sure it happens - and I think it’s sensible. It’s a bit of joke that Boris and co will make a big point of saying they have to react to the situation on a day-to-day basis and things change very quickly, but that’s a political spin issue. Practical moves around key industries/sectors are just common sense.

I think that big organisations generally receive some intelligence shortly prior to major announcements, yes - mine certainly does.

Consistently for all - certainly not. Last week there were posters on here telling us that we were definitely going into full national lockdown to include national rail and the London tube network being closed to passengers to prevent travel, and they knew because their friend who works for the government had tipped them off. Obviously legit.

If a full lockdown restriction on key workers being able to travel to work is announced, then that has been in the pipeline for 2 weeks now. Surly it is this kind of delay that is allowing the virus to take hold?

I don’t think you need anything other than a half functioning brain to realise that the likelihood of lockdown is increasing day on day at the moment

I have some work colleagues who are posh, rich and from London. They definately knew in advance in March what was going to happen in some detail before the lockdown was announced.

@ComtesseDeSpair

I think that big organisations generally receive some intelligence shortly prior to major announcements, yes - mine certainly does.

Consistently for all - certainly not. Last week there were posters on here telling us that we were definitely going into full national lockdown to include national rail and the London tube network being closed to passengers to prevent travel, and they knew because their friend who works for the government had tipped them off. Obviously legit.

If they close public transport then yes, that impacts on so many key workers. As a call centre in a major city, the vast majority of staff use public transport. This makes perfect sense to give others the nod if public transport will close.

But again...why such a long delay between the nod and announcement?

@Watchingbehindmyhands

I don’t think you need anything other than a half functioning brain to realise that the likelihood of lockdown is increasing day on day at the moment

But my workplace suddenly did a complete 360 on WFH planning, even though we are all key workers who have always been able to travel in during lockdowns previously. And this was 2 weeks ago.

For goodness sake. What’s actually wrong with peoole? Did anyone posting this stuff actually watch the interview with Boris? He was not warning restrictions were going to get tighter. Not even slightly

He was being pushed by marr if it could happen, he kept saying he didn’t expect it but they had to monitor it closely, eventually he said of course if the situation deteriorated they would need to, but everyone knew this. He warned of nothing

And yes, some folks do get warned, but not like you think,l it’s critical sectors, I work in one, we have calls with the business secretary weekly, because they need to ensure we don’t stop the country, they tell us what to prepare for, not because he knows, but to ensure business continuity continues in any eventuality Ie worst case.

So no, Boris didn’t warn of anything. The announcement from your ceo is the truth, they are just preparing for worst case.

Local council Comms. Here. We were told a couple of days before doing into tier 4 so we could get Comms. Prepped.

You mean many sectors have regulating bodies that are in constant communication with the relevant government department?

Yes! They do. They have regular meetings, share information and opinions and generally help shape sector responses.

I did some of that back in April, as part of the sector association I am part of. We're not very large but we were welcomed and exchanged a lot of procedural information. Having had that exchange we knew what was the most likely outcome and told the membership how to prepare.

It's normal not some weird conspiracy!

Yes my husband pre warned me about a few bits a bit earlier than it was published. Not hugely.

I could well imagine some businesses/sectors getting a 'nod' but I also think it is very easy to see when a new lockdown (or version of it) is coming.

Not least because it tends to be leaked to the press days in advance...

Also often these things are only agreed at the last minute. There is no such thing as a subject“nod”.

What occurs for the major corp sectors, is the business secretary, and a section of key civil servants work with each of the companies continually to ensure that in any worst case they are prepared. There is no difference now than in the summer. We also get a number of white papers to complete, demonstrating our readiness. There is no “ nod” given.

Honestly not everything is a conspiracy. I just don’t understand how people can clearly not watch Boris’S interview, but still post conspiracy stuff

Yes definitely. I work for a company that has been very heavily affected by each tier system and lockdown and our leadership team have definitely known before each announcement.

Yes, my dad does work for the council and was tipped off before the firebreak lockdown was announced publicly.

No I think people are just watching what’s going on and preparing appropriately for announcements that any fool can see will be made.

But my workplace suddenly did a complete 360 on WFH planning, even though we are all key workers who have always been able to travel in during lockdowns previously. And this was 2 weeks ago.

But the rule was never “key workers can travel to work”, in lockdown it was always that if you could work from home, you should, even if you were a key worker.
Your organisation sounds slightly behind, rather than ahead.

Local council Comms. Here. We were told a couple of days before doing into tier 4 so we could get Comms. Prepped.

Our local council leaders get zero communication from the government. However they've called every decision ahead of time, based on local public health data and looking at what is going on elsewhere. Also by looking at what the government has leaked to certain newspapers.

OP Watch this

You're implying that "being given the nod" is some sort of privileged thing - it's really not, it's actually good management practice. Government bodies consult with representatives of key sectors all the time in order to get feedback on proposals and plan etc. It's not some sort of conspiracy

@cricketmum84

Yes definitely. I work for a company that has been very heavily affected by each tier system and lockdown and our leadership team have definitely known before each announcement.

Oh cmon. It’s common sense, it’s all over the media just before every announcement. Anyone with an iota of common sense prepares their company. You’d have to be a proper idiot to sit and watch this develop and think “gosh that’s a surprise, I never saw that coming”

I’m sure that some are tipped off. Others though just respond to the way the wind is blowing- my employer started strengthening IT provision and ordering phones etc weeks before the first lockdown, because it looked highly likely that things were heading towards wfh. I think it’s just sensible business management and contingency planning.