The harsh reality is that if you thought the Covid-19 emergency lockdown was hard, then the return to the 'new normal' way of doing business is going to be a lot harder! Many businesses are facing huge and growing pressures to reduce costs, bring in revenues, whilst keeping their employees and customers safe as they try to shore up dwindling levels of cash and liquidity, as well as re-orienting their operations. The customer - supplier interface relationship is going to be at the forefront of all this - and that means tough negotiations (whilst still applying social distancing measures). Many businesses will seek to vary or terminate contract terms that have become impossible – often by e-mail or force-majeure / impossibility of purpose terms.This will frequently lead to negative situations and recourse to conflict or confrontation positions. In short, it is gonna get tough! How are you going to deal with this - have you a plan? Have you even got round to thinking about it yet? Well, here is some advice to help you. It will not solve the issues, but it will help to set you on your way.
