Nothing Seaping in: US trade advisory panel vital but opacity a concern 

The Covid-19 shutdown has opened up a lot of new possibilities for the way companies operate and engage with both customers and staff. After all, humans can and do respond to crises by building new mental muscles that they didn’t know they had.

We could easily see a dual or two-speed recovery, where the manufacturing sector gets back to work pretty quickly, but the services sector takes a lot longer to get back on track.

The coronavirus shutdown will inevitably harm the economy. But we could be headed for a much bigger crash of our own making.

While acute care capacity has been ramping up, Vanguard Health CEO and former NHS executive Audrey Mc Donnell turns her attention to the services caring for those most exposed to the pandemic.

FBD has faced backlash from customers who feel they have been cast adrift over coronavirus cover. Meanwhile, its cash reserves are likely to get stressed this year and its financial assets are down between 5 and 10 per cent. What does the future hold for FBD?

As the pressure mounts on the state to bail out vast tranches of the domestic economy and households, are we facing another period of prolonged austerity? Or can we chart a new fiscal future?

Regardless of whatever way the crisis plays out, embracing the extremist alternative is a needlessly risky road. The risky road towards Buenos Aires and rubble-strewn Gdansk.

Over half a million Irish people are receiving either pandemic payments, unemployment benefit or wage subsidies. 300,000 of them were in work at the start of this month. It has forced the state into a hyperactive, adrenalised moment, at which anything could be done--but only in this moment.

The scale of disruption arising from the Covid-19 pandemic can be overwhelming. Yet a number of common steps applicable across industries can help business leaders ground their response in fact, steer their teams through it – and make the most of opportunities arising at the other end.

At Intro Matchmaking, Fergal and I have taken drastic steps to keep the business Intro going during this crisis. Like many, we have made tough decisions, negotiated deals and are searching for creative ways to find our way through.