P. Duggan and R. Brennan

The crisis has a short-term negative impact on Global Shares, an employee owned company that managing employee share plans and stock management plans. But after regrouping, the company has increased its pipeline of new business, with firms keen to incentivise employees with equity.

As soon as the crisis emerged ICON established a business continuity team. Soon after, the executive leadership agreed pay reductions, remote tech was utilised, and field-based staff adapted to the local restrictions. Now, it is expecting a surge in demand for its services.

Listed on AIM in London and led by Irishman Greg Lawless, Arena is a supplier of temporary seats and hospitality structures to some of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. One by one, each of its events have been cancelled, forcing the company to redefine success as survival.

In the first of a new series on how businesses across Ireland and the UK adapted during the first lockdown, we hear from Trinny Woodhall, the fashion and makeover expert behind the fast-expanding Trinny London makeup brand.