By David Garness, Managing Director
Without doubt 2020 will have been one of, if not the most challenging year most businesses will have ever faced – and it has been no different for our team at Garness Jones.
This time last year nobody could have foreseen the difficulties which lay ahead, and even if they had nobody would have believed them.
Today, we end the year still in a state of uncertainty, and unsure quite how life in 2021 will look.
However, I feel it is important to reflect not only on the difficulties faced this year, but also the positives to come out of a bad situation.
For me, I have personally taken great pride in witnessing how our team at Garness Jones adapted to a new way of working. They have constantly found new and effective ways of delivering the same high-levels of services that our clients have come to expect, with the minimum of fuss.
They’ve made remote working work for both themselves as individuals and us as a collective business, and in fact have made it work better in many ways as new flexible hours have ensured our key people have become available at more appropriate times for some clients.
Our team has also proved hugely productive throughout the year, demonstrating how they can be trusted to work alone and not under the watchful eye of a manager five days a week.
In many ways it has been liberating. People have been handed extra freedom and been given the trust to do their jobs well, and they have delivered.
I know this is the case not just at Garness Jones, but at many other businesses where managers and owners have been overwhelmed by the commitment of their staff during such unsettling times.
Business community has come together to get through tough times
Beyond our own staff we’ve also seen tremendous support from those we deal with day to day, from the other property agents we a jointly instructed with on large developments, legal firms, developers themselves and our local authorities, who each play huge roles in the property sector and in attracting new investment to the region.
Individual businesses and landlords have also demonstrated their commitment to emerging from 2020 and all the difficulties faced not only in the best possible position themselves, but wherever possible, helping others do so too.
From the very first lockdown in March we worked tirelessly to sensibly support clients and help them to continue doing business whilst meeting all requirements with regards to staying Covid secure. We decided we had to help businesses stay on the front foot, and believe we have done just that all year long.
In these difficult times we’ve helped push on some of the region’s biggest developments including Hammonds of Hull, Humber Gate and Melton West. We’ve been instructed on a number of exciting new projects and supported people to open new businesses, including a number of new restaurants and cafes.
We have also of course supported thousands of landlords and tenants through the issues caused by Covid-19.
We’ve actually seen increase in demand for areas of our work, such as Commercial Property Management and Block Management of residential developments, reflecting how during these tough times, expert knowledge of the property market is key.
So, I believe it is important to end 2020 on a positive note. We’re choosing to look back on 2020 as a year when we saw our agility, resolve, expertise and determination come to the fore, assisted by the strong relationships and partnerships we have with other businesses, organisations and individuals.
That is a great foundation to start again from in 2021, a year which will incredibly mark 25 years in business for Garness Jones, and one for which we have many exciting plans and projects to look forward to.
