Protecting Staff and Clients from COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

In light of the uncertainty we all face with the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we wish to update everyone, to keep you informed of the steps we’ve taken to ensure we are prepared for all scenarios. At Farnfields, we are committed to protecting the wellbeing of our staff and our clients, and we are adhering to recommendations from the Government and Public Health England. Our absolute number one priority is the safety of clients and staff, no matter what happens.

We know that people’s day-to-day lives are disrupted right now because of Coronavirus, and we’re working hard to ensure we provide the best service to you during this period. Significant investment has been made to enhance our staff home working capability, to enable front line staff to continue to deliver the levels of service we pride ourselves on.

As responsible employers and business owners, we are committed to taking steps within our control to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus while maintaining full business service. We have modern IT systems that enable us to offer remote home working capability to our staff and can confirm that should the need arise to close our offices, existing telephone lines and e-mail addresses will remain functional so you can still get in touch with all your usual points of contact. Our expectation at this stage is that we will continue with our regular service delivery in line with the points below but will advise further should we need to trigger remote working status.

We aim to keep any temporary disruption to a minimum. However, if you are seeking legal support, please bear in mind these considerations:

• We are reducing non-essential client and business meetings and having staff working from home at certain times in line with our Working Practices.
• Where possible we aim to conduct face-to-face client meetings with our legal advisors by either Skype or FaceTime, please consider this if seeking an appointment and let us know if this is an option.
• If clients request face-to-face meetings we will be enquiring as to whether you or close family members have travelled overseas in the last month and if you have, we will make alternative arrangements for the meeting.
• When meeting clients, we will be adopting a no handshake policy, and we aim to physical contact to a minimum. We are sure you will understand the reasons why.
• All non-essential meetings and events are sadly cancelled/postponed.
• All walk-in appointments for document swearing are unfortunately cancelled for the time being.
• Our internal Working Practices ensure that any team member returning from travel or in close contact with others known to have contracted COVID-19 will be self-isolating and following recommended procedures.

As we are sure you are aware, the situation with Covid-19 is continually evolving. We want to reassure you that we can continue to serve your needs should a longer-term solution be required by following Government advice and will continue to keep you informed of any changes.

Any further updates will be posted on our website www.farnfields.com/blog and can be addressed by contacting either our Gillingham, Warminster or Shaftesbury offices by telephone. Thank you for your continued support and co-operation.