As Covid 19 restrictions gradually roll back, I thought it would be a good time to talk about houseshaw’s journey through this difficult pandemic. Over the the last couple of years HouseShaw has changed a lot! Many of these changes happened during and because of Covid. In early 2019 HouseShaw was a much smaller operation than it is now, operated from a shed at the bottom of a garden belonging to the managing director's parents, the work was fairly steady and the company seemed to be heading in the right direction… Then the pandemic hit! Suddenly the world seemed to come to halt, lock downs were announced around the world and the tragic news of a fatal global pandemic was sweeping the country. Along with many other companies HouseShaw made the decision to send employees home to work from there.
As the pandemic continued to spread and cause chaos, the NHS became overloaded. With front line staff working round the clock! Upon hearing the about the state of the NHS the driving force behind HouseShaw, managing director, John and lettings manager, Steve decided that they wanted to help in anyway they could. They began by setting up a ‘Go fund me’ page to raise money for the NHS and its staff, it was promoted by a radio interview and advert by John and Steve on BBC radio 3 Counties. HouseShaw also reached out to all the landlords in the company contact list and offered to help cover their property costs if they would be kind enough to open their doors to front line workers in need of accommodation as so many of them were asked to move and work in busier locations. Throughout the first and second lockdown HouseShaw managed help a large number of NHS and front line workers find a place to stay.
After the first lockdown John and Steve realised that they had outgrown their office in the garden and moved into a new office building. From here they continued to help in anyway they could and also somehow managed to grow the company at the same time. When it got to the point that John decided it was time to grow the team, it just so happened that the government had launched a new scheme to help young people find a job during the pandemic, Kickstart. The kickstart scheme aimed to get more young people jobs during the pandemic by offering to pay the first 6 months of the employees wages with the hope that after these six months the company would offer a full time position. I was hired by HouseShaw via the kickstart scheme along with two of my other colleagues, and we have al now got full time positions and are helping to grow the company.
From everyone at HouseShaw i would like to say a big thanks to all the key workers who have been working throughout the pandemic! And good luck to everyone with getting back to normality again!
