As part of our series looking back at life in lockdown, Lois Stubbs of Beyond Conveyancing tells us all about what it’s like to join the Group only one week into lockdown.

Right from the start, I knew I was going to work somewhere special.  Even though I had accepted the job late on Friday night, on Monday morning, everything, including all my equipment, was ready for my arrival. On my first day I was advised that since it looked likely the lock down could be enforced any day in the next few weeks, I should take my laptop and so on home with me every evening, so I was prepared for this eventuality. As you can imagine, the prospect of working from home when you have no knowledge of the systems and haven’t had a chance to even so much as learn how your colleagues take their tea was a daunting one. I need not have worried.  Every day of that first week, we were updated with complete transparency by our team leaders. It was clear that not only were we following Government guidelines, but also that the firm had given careful thought to best remote working practices, looking to the future putting measures in place to ensure that when lock down happened, we were ready.

I was not in the office the day after lockdown was announced and, in all honesty, had expected my job would be, at the very least put on hold, until the situation was clearer. Instead received a phone call from a colleague who had collected all my IT equipment and was outside my house to drop it off.

It turned out the whole team had coordinated getting my equipment to me; it was clear that not only was I already considered an invaluable member of the team, but that I would be given everything I needed to make sure I was comfortable in my new role.

Starting a new job during lock down has not been a walk in the park, it’s true. You can’t help but be concerned when you hear about how many, much larger firms, are letting people go or are furloughing their staff. I’m a new employee. Might this happen to me? No. Not a single person at Beyond Corporate Law has been furloughed, there have been no redundancies, there have been no pay cuts.

Everyone supports each other, and not just via our daily video team meetings. My new colleagues have kept in touch both professionally and personally, and as a team we are regularly updated on the firm’s position on relevant matters. I have never felt isolated, or in the dark with regards to my employment.

Although the role for which I was hired has been adapted so I can work from home, I have always been busy, and I always feel that the work I do is recognised. I can see that everyone in the firm is working as normal, and its high standards are maintained. The move from the office to home-working was so seamless, I’d suggest that if it wasn’t for being unable to take meetings in the office, I doubt clients would even know we are all working from home. I believe that this is due to the forward-thinking of the firm and the state-of-the-art IT system in place.

I am so pleased to be part of this firm. I am acutely aware my situation could have been handled very differently but as Matt says: “We’re not crowd-followers.” I’m excited for my future here.