Clifford Chance – Businesses are experiencing unprecedented challenges and, in some cases, new opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Resourcefulness, dexterity and tenacity are crucial for those who will come out of the crisis in good shape.
In this extract from a recent client webinar, General Counsel from leading organisations that are facing change and embracing it, together with Clifford Chance experts, share lessons they are learning during these very challenging times.
Dealing with the onset of the pandemic
Informa, which hosts international events, from which two thirds of its revenue is derived, and global alcoholic drinks company, Diageo, operate in sectors that were hit hard in the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis in China in early 2020.
Rupert Hopley, Informa’s General Counsel and Company Secretary says: “As we
realised that this was not just a localised issue in China or even Asia, we had to
move quickly to establish a strong footing for us as an organisation, to work out
what we were going to do and how we were going to react in many different
markets, under different legislation and under different local authority guidance, to
do what was best for our customers, our colleagues and the business itself.”
Diageo, is heavily reliant on the hospitality sector – hotels and bars and restaurants
– for the consumption of its products, and as Siobhán Moriarty, its General Counsel and Company Secretary explains, the company’s implementation of crisis management started in Asia and then moved across the globe like a “Mexican wave.”
