How normal was it for you?

Monday marked a significant milestone as restrictions lifted and headlines declared “it’s back to the office we go”. The reality of course is somewhat different as cautious attitudes and hybrid working are here to stay. And, at the risk of sounding like Dr Who, I’m not sure we can ever return to normal because what we’ve now got used to has become normal, so old normal by definition becomes abnormal.?Now, where’s my sonic screwdriver gone?

Manic Monday

Transport finally returned to something like pre-pandemic levels on Monday, with trains described as ‘rammed’ and early figures showing 820,000 entry and exits on London Underground by 9am, up 14% from a fortnight ago. However, the Northern Line lived up to its long-held ‘misery line’ moniker as, just when they thought it was safe to go back under, commuters face five months of disruption due to upgrade works at Bank Station. But on a positive front, it’s great to spend more time back in EY’s lovely offices and I look forward to seeing more of my colleagues and clients in person over the coming weeks and months.

Love in a COVID climate

It’s important to remember that in other parts of the world COVID-19 restrictions are still in place. So, spare a thought for a certain Ms Wang, who was on a blind date in Zhengzhou, China when the region suffered an instant lockdown. Social media users were able to follow the pandemic-struck lovers’ progress through Ms Wang’s vlogs on WeChat. Apparently, her opposite number proved to be a good cook who made all the meals during their record breaking four-day blind date, but she also revealed that he didn’t speak much... Mrs M says he sounds like a keeper (which, frankly, is a bit rude).

Tales from retail

Switching back to the world of work, it’s one thing being back in the office but many businesses are facing a tough year as government support schemes finally taper out and business loans taken out during the pandemic start to be paid back. Despite a strong 2021, the retail sector in particular is facing these headwinds as well as ongoing supply chain challenges. All this and more was the subject of a recent EY Retail webcast. My colleague and great friend Mona Bitar summed it up brilliantly here as she discusses the rise of the Planet Earth and Cautious Consumer segments. You can also listen to the webcast in full by registering here.

I’ll CEO you later

As companies face new operational realities in a post-pandemic world, new strategies are likely to be needed to make the most of the economic rebound. In the latest CEO Imperative Series, EY colleagues wrote a fascinating article about how leaders are reassessing risk, responding to the impacts of the pandemic and focusing on large-scale transformation programmes. To be honest, at this point, I just don't know how I got away with the subtitle for this paragraph!

There may be trouble ahead

While the UK still expects to see strong GDP growth in 2022, ahead of all its G7 competitors, it will not be plain sailing. Many businesses will feel the knock-on effects of the pandemic such as labour and supply chain shortages, plus the impacts of structural changes in the global economy. In fact, a record 44% of the 70 warnings issued in 2021 cited supply chain issues – compared with an average of just 2% in the decade before COVID-19. Read all about it in EY’s latest analysis of profit warnings, which also suggests more restructuring activities are on the way in 2022.

Henry hoover’s day off

Regular readers (sufferers) know that I’m always on the lookout for weird and wonderful stories. Well, I was certainly sucked in by a news item this week about a robot vacuum cleaner that went walkabout from a Travelodge Hotel in Cambridge. Perhaps tired of lockdowns or sick of being taken for a sucker, rather than stopping at the front door the vacuum just carried on into Cambridge. As a postscript I’m happy to report that it was found safe and well under a hedge the next day, ironically by a real-life cleaner, and has now returned to the bosom of its robot family on a shelf at the Travelodge. Now, if that isn’t a Dr Who episode in waiting, I’m a Dalek.

More tales of the unexpected can be found here.