As many of you know, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to close Friends House and Swarthmoor Hall for a long period in 2020. We have been able to reopen but only partly and under tight restrictions. Unfortunately, this has had a deep impact on our company and our staff. We’re all about getting people together and offering hospitality services. The pandemic has made trade very difficult for us, if not almost impossible.

To ensure that the Quiet Company is still here in the months ahead, we have taken the difficult decision of offering a voluntary redundancy scheme to our staff. This has been a heart-breaking decision to take, and not one we would have envisaged if the survival of the company wasn’t at stake.

As an ethical business, rooted in Quaker values, we decided that our scheme would offer substantially more than the statutory minimum.

Val Brittin, Clerk to the Board of Directors of the Quiet Company, expresses her gratitude to our leaving colleagues:

 “To the many staff who have decided to take voluntary redundancy, we say thank you. Some of you have been here since the start of the company in 2007. You have been committed and have helped us grow and reach new milestones year after year. In the last thirteen years, there hasn’t been one side of the business that didn’t get industry recognition or accreditation. This is all down to you. We’ll be forever grateful.”

The company is going through a storm. These are unprecedented times that call for unprecedented action. The company is reducing its size, but this won’t be enough. We need to adapt and rethink to be able to carry on.

We can’t do that on our own. Paul Henderson-Grey, CEO of the Quiet Company, reasserts the need for support for the events sector:

 “We also need the Government to help us further. We have welcomed the announcement by the Chancellor of a new job scheme. But what our industry really needs is a better dedicated rescue package and representation at government level by a dedicated minister. Hardly any other sector has been impacted to the core like ours.” 

As the Quiet Company, what we do goes beyond events and hospitality. What we do is provide a vital income to the charity of Quakers in Britain, so that they can act for peace, sustainability, and social justice in the UK and abroad. What we do is provide a vital hub for the community in Camden and Ulverston in Cumbria, enabling groups to meet or stay at a fair price. What we do is help those who have seen doors shut on them too many times in their lives, through our Suspended Soup Scheme and Bake the Difference programme. All of this is in jeopardy today unless we get additional funding.

However, we remain hopeful for the future. We know that our remaining staff will go the extra mile, as always, to get us through the storm. As the pandemic has shown, we need more ethical businesses and we’re determined not to let ours go. We’re open for your meetings and events for up to 30 delegates and ready to serve you. Book with us, so we can continue to make a difference in the world.