I heard some very heartening news yesterday. While conducting an interview I was told that many in the industry have taken to paying suppliers much faster than usual. This includes corporations paying movers and agent-agent transactions too. Great news. Last month I was banging on about that very subject and hoping that the industry would work together to get through the crisis. It appears people are doing just that. Marvellous!

Then there was the news that came out yesterday that the Brits have discovered an old steroid that cuts the death rate for people with COVID-19, and on ventilators, by 35%.  That’s huge! The drug is cheap and widely available in hospital pharmacies all over the world now.  Throughout history these islands have not always covered themselves in glory, there is much for which we should hang our heads, but in the UK we do have a few very clever people. AstraZeneca currently has its COVID-19 vaccine under stage III trials and has already signed an agreement to supply European countries with 400 million doses with deliveries starting before the end of 2020. We await good news on its efficacy.

Our cover story this month is an interview with Mike Brannigan from Suddath in the USA.  Suddath is part of the consortium that was recently awarded the US Military Household Goods moving contract.  The whole point of changing the structure of the contract was to try to improve the service for military personnel and I was intrigued how, simply re-assigning the contract, would do that.  Mike was very forthcoming and explained the circumstances, I believe, as well as he was able as the award was still in the protest period. 

It has since emerged that a protest has been filed by two other companies and, therefore, the award of the contract is to be reviewed.  I was told that the process was expected to be completed within the coming weeks; whether that will be before you read this or not, I don’t know.  My decision was to run the story anyway as I’m sure you’ll find it interesting. I’ll pass on any more news I receive in a timely fashion via our website.

One other thing: if you have had a good experience with home working during the lockdown, and are thinking of continuing it indefinitely, read the story on page 36 … just saying.