The Covid-19 pandemic has caused major disruption to island businesses but there are some great examples of teams stepping up to deliver in difficult circumstances.

Cathy Collins, head of brand and marketing communications, explains how Manx Telecom has been working hard to keep us connected through the lockdown period.

Manx Telecom’s business continuity plans were launched early, allowing over 65% of our workforce to work remotely from their homes and continue their roles without any major hitches.

Meanwhile, our remaining field and technical engineering teams have been busy maintaining essential and critical connectivity services for the Isle of Man Government, key workers and those in vulnerable groups.

Our store staff have continued to work behind closed doors, delivering hardware and handsets - almost all on next day delivery - to keep our customers working (and streaming/gaming!) from home.

We have also been making capacity improvements to both our broadband and mobile networks at various locations around the island, and recently changed our mobile network identifier to "#StayHome_MT" to reflect and reinforce government messaging. The identifier currently changes each Thursday to "#ThanksNHS_MT" to show our support for their work and, from Friday, April 25, changed to "#StaySafe_MT" to reflect the changed government coronavirus guidelines.

We were proud to help launch the 111 Covid-19 telephone service - it has received around 6,000 calls to date.

We have also received some great feedback for our ’#here for you’ campaign which includes removing broadband usage caps and free local/national voice calls for vulnerable groups, and doubling the validity period for pay-as-you-go mobile top ups. We’re also urging customers experiencing financial hardship as a result of coronavirus to contact us so that we can understand how we can help them.

Elsewhere we are helping local charities and support groups such as Live at Home and Laxey Lifeline to keep elderly and vulnerable people in touch with services and communities at a time when it is even more important for people to be able to stay connected with connected by phone or via the internet.

As well as adapting to the current coronavirus situation, other work goes on as usual. We have just announced an exciting new five-year deal with Cerillion to future-proof the billing and payments side of the business.

We’ve also just been awarded the prestigious BS ISO 45001:2018 accreditation in Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management for leadership and management commitment to creating a health and safety culture.

It’s important not to lose sight of the long term in a crisis so these developments keep us looking forward and focused on continuous improvement.

Of course, coronavirus has presented us with challenges - the temporary closure of our Strand Street store and the restriction on engineering works are key. Having robust business continuity plans in place, and a willing, flexible and committed workforce have helped us respond quickly and effectively. It’s been a great team effort across the business.