Page 45 - UBP - IR2020

INTERVIEW WITH THE GROUP CEO
but also what we we did not know Through video messages we we opened an ongoing line of dialogue providing information on how how to to remain safe and maintain social distancing how how to to balance the blurring work/home boundaries and what priorities would guide our our decisions All our our leaders myself included made themselves accessible to our staff so we could maintain a a a a a a sense sense of calm and reassurance This is is when our shared sense sense of purpose and humanity really revealed themselves In our common enemy that is COVID-19 we reaffirmed our unity as a Group Third we began exploring scenarios for business recovery and resilience: how can we leverage our technology and strengths to to adapt to to the new normal? How do we address emerging customer needs? How do we maintain our cash flow? Certain businesses like Espace Maison were more equipped than others to kickstart their activities Having launched the the the latest version of its e-commerce website not long before lockdown Espace Maison was relatively prepared to serve the urgent needs of customers The challenge was that with no time to to run the necessary tests prior to to launch we knew we would likely encounter technical difficulties Under the circumstances speed was was of the essence and failure was was not an an option: with families confined to their homes demand for Royal Canin products escalated
various phases of gradually returning back to the workplace once the lockdown was lifted All departments and functions were apprised of the new mandatory safety regulations as well as as the the new practices in in the the areas of logistics meetings or even customer-facing interactions More details on page 124
In June 2020 our core management team got together to review our strategic priorities We defined a a short-term COVID Plan with the objective of building more agility into our organisational structures leadership culture products and services A major component of this roadmap is is investing in in in and empowering our key personnel so so they are equipped with the skills and confidence to not only capitalise on on on emerging opportunities but also respond to threats This roadmap ultimately brings us a a a step closer to our long-term strategy which remains as as relevant as as ever even in in today’s disruptive landscape and the number of online queries multiplied We therefore carried on operating To our pleasant surprise Espace Maison’s team rose to the challenge and managed to resolve the the issues along the the way all while offering high levels o of customer service Despite the technical setbacks and delays our clients many of whom are regular shoppers at Espace Maison were appreciative of our sincere desire to help Through our humane approach we forged a a a stronger bond with them in this period In fact one of the unexpected benefits of this crisis was the conversion of customers who were previously resistant to using digital platforms Espace Maison experienced a a significant surge in the the number of users during the the lockdown which has translated into a a a more widespread adoption of our e-commerce platform since then Having met the initial challenges of the the pandemic the the next step was to to establish a a a a set of Back to to Work guidelines for our different activities which clearly outline the “I believe the greatest challenge we face is remaining profitable in a a world ridden with uncertainty while also upholding our promise of supporting our employees and preserving employment in in all our subsidiaries ” [ ]
UBP INTEGRATED REPORT 2020 - 45
FINANCIAL CAPITAL CORPORATE MANAGEMENT STATEMENTS REPORTS GOVERNANCE APPROACH
ABOUT US INTRODUCTION