Andy Gatesy – ‘If you cannot get through the door, climb through the window’

“My father always said that if you cannot get through the door, climb through the window, and if the window is closed, climb down the chimney,” confides Andy. “Nobody saw the pandemic coming or the scale of the medical and economic crisis that would follow. We’re living amid unprecedented unpredictability, so it’s high time we all started thinking outside the box.”

For the manufacturing industry, the lockdown measures of the second quarter of 2020 had a major impact. “The lifting of restrictions in quarter three allowed companies to recover somewhat, but semi-lockdown towards the end of 2020 will once again have affected consumer confidence right into spring 2021,” continues Andy.

“Panic is contagious, but so is good leadership. All brands have stepped up their online presence to reach out to customers, but there’s no denying that with fewer social occasions and the wearing of masks, the beauty sector has been affected.

What’s more, beauty has a strong presence in the travel retail sector, which of course has reduced drastically. That said, we must rise up and calmly focus on what we can control, rather than what we can’t, by maintaining our passion, purpose and persistence.”

Looking ahead, Andy asserts that businesses need to play to win rather than to simply stay in the game. “Companies must continue to adapt and reinvent themselves,” he says. “At Toly, we’ve maintained strong morale, which has been vital. Now, we must not lose our ambition. We need to remain positive, focus on costs and efficiencies, and be ready to take advantage of new opportunities once the pandemic is over.”

Featured Image: Alan Carville