Challenge: Many forestry and wood businesses ground to a halt, or reduced operations very significantly, after the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. There was a desire for specific and regularly updated information and guidance in one location – and for direct contact with Confor, as the forestry trade body, to continue through the crisis.
Solution: David Lee of PA Cooperative worked with Confor staff to create, design and curate a web hub for the sector http://www.confor.org.uk/covid-19/ – writing and editing copy and updating the site daily, working with the CEO to ensure all new information went on to the site immediately. This included creating a series of videos to explain why parts of the setcoir were still working, which were shared across all social media platforms.
Neil Cuthbert and David Lee also designed and organised a series of webinars to stay in touch with members and update them on relevant issues.
Result: The web hub was very well-received by Confor members and the wider industry for its relevance and the speed at which it was updated. Confor was able to communicate and collaborate with areas of the sector much more closely. Some of the videos were watched by more than 20,000 people on Confor’s Facebook page.
The webinars were all well-attended and well-received. All those who signed up received an email afterwards, with a report of the webinar and link to watch it in full – plus a link to relevant resources. All this was provided by PAC.
Impact: Confor has very clear evidence that the web hub led to member retention and recruitment. The professionalism of the site and the speed at which it was created and updated – while retaining very high quality – enhanced Confor’s reputation across the whole forestry and wood industry, and among officials and politicians at Governmental level.
Testimonial: Confor benefited greatly from the ability of PAC to adapt the way it worked very quickly as the potential impacts of Covid-19 became apparent. Neil and David supported Confor in an extremely professional, innovative and high-quality way, which helped not only maintain, but enhance, communications with members and the wider industry during the crisis.
Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive,
Confor: Promoting Forestry and Wood