Dear Business Partner
It has now been 5 weeks since the UK government announced lockdown measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though there may be speculation of such restrictions ending in the near future, at the time of writing there have been no formal announcements to this effect.
As such, we thought that this would be a good time to reassure you of the continuation of our ongoing business services at Network Space. We have not Furloughed any employees and have no current plans to do so as our workforce remains generally busy. Our offices are closed and our staff have been working from home since at least the week before lockdown. It is inevitable that some employees have experienced a reduction in their workload as a consequence of the restrictions, whilst for others the workload has increased - where this has been the case we have successfully sought to balance duties amongst staff.
The board and management of Network Space believe that this is the best course to take as we remain committed to making sure all of our business streams are functioning as normally as they possibly can:
- Network Space Developments has continued to work with clients on both current and prospective future developments, all the obligations of existing agreements and contracts are being met and construction sites remain active when it is safe and appropriate to be. Enquiries for our newly developed buildings are being received and advanced accordingly.
- NSM, our dedicated Asset and Property Management business continues to receive and progress new letting enquires for existing properties, is actively working with existing tenants as they too navigate these difficult times and are routinely inspecting our managed sites (both physically and via CCTV) to make sure they are secure and suitably maintained.
- Network Space Investment is actively monitoring the impact that the pandemic is having on the economy and real estate sector in particular, analysing the effects this will have on investment demand, valuations and the serviceability of debt facilities.
There is no doubt that these are difficult times for almost every business and ours is no different – rental income in particular has materially reduced whilst our overheads and loan interest payments have remained the same. As a group we are finding that our robust Balance Sheet and diverse income stream is serving us well – our Directors meet regularly by video conference to ensure this remains the case. We endeavour to keep any disruptions to our service to a minimum and are grateful for your continued understanding and support.
Our best wishes to you, both in business and personally.
Richard Ainscough