COVID-19 Update

Dear Customers and Partners, 

In these unprecedented times I wanted to outline how we are responding as a Group to the challenge we are all facing with the escalating Covid-19 Pandemic and to reinforce that we are committed to continuing to provide the high level of service you have come to know us for. 

As an international group we have operations, customers and partners in countries around the world, where both the disease itself and the various government responses to it are at different stages of development. Many of our offices have been dealing with this issue for some time, and I am proud of how they have acted with focus and determination, invoking flexible working practices to protect themselves and their communities whilst continuing to provide the highest level of service to our customers and partners. 

Whilst we have had to adapt our working practices, our agility and creativeness ensure that we have and will continue to deliver “Business as Normal in Abnormal Times”. 

Our IT, telephony and network capabilities have been developed to support smart working, and our collaborative remote working tools such as Skype for Business, Workplace and other digital tools, are designed to keep our people and our customers and partners in touch. 

In summary, we are well-equipped to put our people first so that they can continue to deliver to our customers and partners. 

In the UK, in line with many of our market counterparties, we have now closed our Howden UK Group offices and implemented remote working in order to protect our employees, our customers and our trading partners. We have also suspended non-essential business travel and wherever possible our teams are using technology to replace face-to-face meetings. 

Our broking businesses have been frequently stress-tested and proven their remote working capabilities and I am confident you will see normal service delivery. 

This extraordinary situation is likely to be with us for some time and I am most grateful for the professionalism and resilience of our employees and the support of our customers and partners. 

We remain available to support you in any way we can and I ask that you reach out to us using your normal contacts if we can assist. 

With my very best wishes to you, your colleagues and your families, 
 

David Howden, CEO Howden Group Holdings