Mr. Ray Gray:

It is not the case that we will need the same number of staff in the foreseeable future. That is the actual position. It is certainly not the case that we are taking advantage of our staff. I lived and worked through a significant downturn but that pales into insignificance compared with what we are currently experiencing. I know the impact this has on staff for a decade afterwards. Certainly, for my part, we are trying to learn the lessons from that and ensure we operate sympathetically with our staff but also confront them with the realities of a very different environment, just as we must confront them ourselves. I would be horrified to think staff were being terrorised. We have a very active process of engaging with staff; we message them on a literally daily or weekly basis. We have tried to be open, honest and upfront with them about the situation we are facing with them. We have tried to create as many possible staff options that can be available to them, including career breaks, reduced hours and, where staff wish it, looking at voluntary severance.