Rhys Taylor-Brown

Michael Wood has been the CEO of Westfield Farms since 1968. In an exclusive interview with The Leaders Council, Wood discusses exactly how Covid-19 has hit a business that is doing its best to fend for itself, with no government support to fall back on.

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven a significant test to the resilience of children’s social care services in the UK. An already overburdened industry has had to take on the challenge of assisting children and young people in care who are facing long periods of heightened stress and isolation, meaning that the right support is more critical than ever before.

NSF Health Sciences and the US National Environmental Health Association [NEHA] are to co-host a virtual special session of the annual Legionella Conference, which will focus on disease prevention from waterborne pathogens during a public health crisis.

In the latter part of 2019, The World Health Organization planned to raise the profile of the nursing profession worldwide and increase the global workforce of nurses in honour of Florence Nightingale’s 200th anniversary, making 2020 the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. In December of that year, Covid-19 first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, before spreading to the rest of the world over the course of the following year.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for power protection has become even more vital. Such protection is crucial for education institutions in their bid to provide safe online learning for students, amid a wholesale push toward the digital education approach to ensure learning can continue from home and remove the need for pupils to physically mix and risk spreading the disease.

Manyara Muyenziwa is the nominated individual at Rhodsac Community Living, a service that operates residential care homes and supported living facilities. In her leadership role, Muyenziwa has been responsible for heading up the service’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic from early last year, and as has been the case for all care sector operators, it has been a tremendous challenge for the service to navigate, with early PPE shortages and high levels of anxiety among staff and residents throughout having to be carefully managed.

Our latest leadership round-up brings news of Beauty Kitchen’s vegan skincare range that is an ideal choice for participants in Veganuary 2021, while Shaikh & Co Chartered Certified Accountants & Registered Auditors have provided a useful explanatory newsletter for businesses closed by the government during the first UK Covid-19 lockdown, after the Supreme Court ruled that insurers should pay out on business interruption claims. Elsewhere, NSF International has announced the launch of its new in vitro diagnostics app.

With the nation in the grip of another national lockdown, online teaching has resumed in vogue across the country. In recognition of the task teachers have at hand in educating their learners remotely and keeping on top of education provider’s targets and Ofsted requirements, awarding organisation Ascentis has highlighted six top tips, based on learnings from the previous two lockdowns, to help teachers plan their remote learning strategies and ensure education continues with as little disruption as possible.

The start of the New Year is already bringing about new opportunities for gas marine and power turbine specialists Alba Power, who have announced a recent contract award with one of their clients based in North America.

Last week, the government published proposals for a number of changes to the Mental Health Act in England and Wales, which are likely to result in fewer individuals with autism being admitted to mental health hospitals. While the National Autistic Society hails the news as a huge step forward for autistic peoples and their rights, Axia ASD’s Dr Linda Buchan and Beth Robertson, although equally thrilled, have said that the breakthrough has been years in the making and must be followed through with more action.

Although a YouGov poll published shortly after the New Year revealed that 80 per cent of the public supported a third full national lockdown prior to national restrictions re-entering force, there remain healthy numbers of the public that have not yet abandoned hope of a winter skiing getaway.

Mercanta The Coffee Hunters celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2021, and the milestone could not come after a more testing year. 2020 will never be forgotten for the challenges that society and individuals worldwide have faced and continue to face, and the same applies to the specialty coffee business that provides a living for so many.

Our latest leadership round-up brings news of RDT announcing a new partnership with Sightcall, while The Creative Engagement Group has acquired New Jersey firm Vitiello Communications Group. Elsewhere, the Kent Autistic Trust has shared a guide initially produced by BelievePerform, offering tips for keeping on top of mental health during lockdown in the winter.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has wore on and more knowledge has been sourced about the virus and how it is transmitted, The National Association of Air Duct Specialists UK [NAADUK] has been advising its members and others on how to limit the airborne spread of the disease as much as possible.

In the lead-up to Christmas, The Leaders Council heard from PDK Shellfish managing director Paul Knight, who warned that new post-Brexit regulations governing the export of live produce to the EU had the potential to do significant damage to the industry. With a fortnight having passed since the end of the transition period, the sector is facing such intense teething problems with the new system that it is already weighing-up the prospect of temporarily halting, or worse.