Stuart Farrell, Head of Supply Chain Management, reflects on Cornerstone’s approach to the ongoing pandemic and what might change going forwards.

After what has been to date a global pivot point for Supply Chain Management, with the onset and continuation of the global pandemic, now is a point in time to pause and share some of the steps already taken in Telecoms Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) to ‘keep Britain connected’.

As the UK moves into, what some describe as a second wave of coronavirus, and with local lockdowns becoming the “new normal”, there are some key lessons and learnings for Cornerstone, our Partners and the Industry as a whole.

Overall, I would say that both the Fixed and Mobile Telecommunications industries have responded well to this exceptional situation, being pro-active with the use of technology, innovation and leading by example. According to Nigel Newton, Managing Director of one of our long-standing strategic partners, Clarke Telecom, Cornerstone’s response has been to “set a very high benchmark by taking an industry lead, that to my knowledge, has not been replicated anywhere. Your approach to supplier communications and leadership has been exemplary.” 

Very encouraging feedback to receive, which we have heard flavours of many times over the past four months on our weekly touchpoint communications MS Teams calls. They validate all the team’s hard work, which started as soon as the government announced the national lockdown.

Our priority was to make contact with all of our strategic CNI Suppliers, creating both a verbal and visual dialogue early on. It allowed everyone to understand how they could work together, to continually provide much needed connectivity for the nation. We did this by hosting weekly Supplier Surgeries on MS Teams, attended by 70 colleagues across Cornerstone and our supplier network. Our agenda led with Health and Safety, which rightly so, was at the centre of all our decision-making.

In addition, during these well attended surgeries each week, we were able to provide the latest updates on the CNI estate that we own and manage on behalf of Vodafone and O2-Telefónica.

We also shared the latest, up to date Government safety advice and guidance, and cascade details from the National Criminal Intelligence briefings, giving much needed locations of possible terrorism events, such as arson and vandalism. 

With the primary aim of wanting to make the lives of those out in the field safer and better understood by the British public, we backed up our approach with tangible actions. We did this by providing CNI equipment and jackets, creating telecoms critical works van signage, developing CNI site notices, and issuing correspondence to explain to the public, where needed, that our people were key essential workers performing critical services to the nation. 

Recognising the potential financial risks to some of our suppliers during these uncertain times, we also made the bold decision to reduce payment terms and paid valid invoices quicker. By doing so, we ensured the ‘freeing up’ of operating cashflow, enabling our suppliers to support their sub-contractors downstream, allowing them to continue trading and providing a much needed service.

Our company values drove all of our actions, while demonstrating to our partners that we genuinely care as a company and value them. In turn, I’d like to think we have influenced them with best approaches for managing their suppliers, from the experience they have shared with us.

As for the future, I firmly believe our approach, actions and lessons learned will place us in a strong position.

We are now as a business and a 4,500 people strong Supply Chain, better equipped to take on any second wave challenge, and I strongly believe we have new tools at our disposal to be even stronger next time, with flexibility, transparency and safety forming key parts of our business continuity plans going forward.

I’m confident we will get through this situation as #TogetherWeAreBetter

Since 17th March, following government guidance and our policy to always put the health and safety of our people first, all of Cornerstone’s 250 employees are working from home.

We have prepared a working from home guide which you can view here.

We have moved very quickly to create the right environment to keep everybody connected.

We began by setting up a dedicated coronavirus intranet page hosting company updates to keep pace with the situation and external information from trusted sources such as Public Health England. From there, we issued working from home guidance based on industry best practice. The guide covers how to set up a workstation safely, remaining vigilant with information technology, getting the best out of technology to communicate and collaborate with others, and last, but by no means least, the importance of maintaining our wellbeing.

To support our people in this challenging time, we have taken the initiative to provide an additional five days paid compassionate leave to cover caring for dependents or maintaining carer responsibilities, which has been well received.

We were conscious too of the need to create two-way communication between everyone in the company and we have set up an MS Team called Cornerstone Family, which reflects how we feel as an organisation. Containing three channels, the combined effect of all our actions has had some surprising upsides.

Our people have embraced their new working conditions brought about by coronavirus, showing creativity and innovation in their response. As examples, from a wellbeing perspective, we offer online yoga three times a week, or for those who want something more demanding, HITT sessions are available. People are sharing pictures of their team virtual coffee catchup’s, outside surroundings, motivational quotes, while others are organising online tea breaks for those who want a friendly chat.

That online camaraderie has extended into day-to-day working too. Managers are reporting that the desire they see right across Cornerstone to do the right thing is simply inspirational.

One manager summed it up for me when he commented that the challenges of working from home in maintaining business as usual, has unexpectedly produced a renewed team energy and increased drive. People are communicating even better than before among themselves, our suppliers, and our customers. It has gone up a level from what was already a very high standard. A fantastic example being the weekly online meetings we are having with our key suppliers to keep them updated, a move described as industry-leading.

I am so proud of everyone’s efforts and determination at Cornerstone to keep ourselves connected and in looking out for one another.

Ginette Kilroy
People, Brand, Communications and Facilities Director