By now we should all be used to the fact things are not quite what they were before, with many aspects of our everyday lives disrupted or altered as a result of Social Distancing. Like many businesses we at BWB have been working hard to plan for a way to allow clients and third parties back into the building whilst following the Covid Secure guidance to keep both clients and staff safe.

Those of you who are familiar with our offices may realise that making adjustments and deciding best procedures has not been the easiest of tasks due to the fact our building is listed and the layout doesn’t really allow any scope for adaptions, however, we have made the necessary changes and have a policy in place that we believe maintains the correct 2m social distancing generally with further protection (screens etc.), when that is not possible.

As attending the office will feel different from before, below is a visual guide on what to expect but you can also access a PDF of our client notice for more in-depth information here:

Arriving at the office

On arrival at the office in most cases you should find the door is unlocked and will open as you would expect – however, if someone is waiting in reception you may be asked to wait outside or use the Service Door for collection, delivery or Identification Verification until it is safe to enter reception (or is unnecessary if this has been dealt with at the Service Door – please do not stand in the doorway but stand to one side as it is also an exit, leaving 2 metres between you and anyone else waiting.

Please do not arrive any earlier than 5 minutes before your allocated appointment time (but please also do not be late) – as we have to strictly control the numbers in the reception area at any one time and only have a limited number of meeting rooms where social distancing can be observed.

Appointments are limited a maximum of 2 people (from one household or social bubble) and we unfortunately cannot allow for additional people to wait in reception. In special circumstances we might be able to accommodate up to 4 people in a single meeting (again from one household or social bubble), but this will be by special arrangement only and is not guaranteed.

After cleaning your hands and informing reception that you are here for an appointment you may be asked to sit (albeit briefly) on the allocated seats in reception – please note there are only a few seats that can be safely used

You will then be directed through to your meeting room – we currently have 2 meeting rooms that are Covid secure and allow for a natural 2m gap or with screens added for protection where you are less than 2 metres.

There is access to further hand sanitiser on entering the room, please use it.

The rooms are cleaned every morning, and in-between each meeting.

Windows will be opened in meeting rooms (wherever possible) to increase ventilation – please note these are rear facing windows and do not open onto the street, so confidentiality is maintained.

Once seated in the room, the staff member seeing you (if they are not already there) will join you within a few minutes – we ask that you please do not leave the room until the staff member has arrived.