What Would a Second Wave Mean for UK Businesses?

Business Insights
29/07/2020

The Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted all aspects of life in one way or another. Although individuals are reeling from its effects, it is businesses that have had to bear the brunt of this pandemic. They have had to let employees go, scale down their operations, or close altogether as different parts of the economy they rely on have been shut down. With infection numbers going down, the government reopened some sectors of the economy. Now, numbers are rising again and the same businesses that were hit hard by the first wave are looking into the future and wondering what happens if a second wave hits.


Businesses Will Need to Be Involved in the Fight

The UK government has already announced a Test and Trace System and businesses are an integral part of making sure this system works. Businesses will be required to make shops, workspaces and places of business safe and ensure everyone notified by the system is isolated and adheres to the set guidelines.


Business owners will also be required to notify health authorities of any outbreaks at their facilities, thereby playing a huge role in stopping the spread of the virus.


Rethink How They Do Business

With a second wave, the government is likely to impose new lockdown measures, meaning that businesses will not be open for as long as they would have hoped. This means there will be less time to recoup losses that came with the first wave. Businesses that want to survive the second wave will have to make difficult choices and look for new ways to conduct their businesses.


Returning to an online format seems like the obvious option. This has several advantages. First, businesses will be able to operate without opening their physical locations. Second, businesses will be able to survive through the second wave, and third, businesses will reduce operating costs, as running their businesses online would mean lower overhead costs and fewer expenses.


They Will Need to Lean on Their Online Assets

Businesses will also need to focus on their online operations. The best way to start is to ensure their online assets are still live and working as expected. These include social media accounts and websites where most of their business will be conducted. For their websites, they need to make sure they are up to date and they can be found if people search for their products and services. The best way to do this would be by boosting their SEO, and the sooner they start, the better.


Search engines need time to take note of their efforts, which will place them in a better position to be found and keep doing business if the second wave hits. Gorilla Marketing, who are a Manchester SEO agency helped us answer the underlying questions around SEO and see through the fog so that we could better formulate a strategy that will help us keep going. Gorilla Marketing is an exceptional SEO and digital agency that helps businesses grow by providing design and digital marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes.


With the Health Ministry finding ways to ensure the UK is properly prepared for a second wave, business owners are starting to feel uneasy about what is to come. A second wave could mean losses bigger than those experienced during the first wave and businesses would do well to be prepared if the second wave hits.