Like so many people I am working away at a desk at home. I get up early and have a routine. I keep in touch with my staff on a regular basis; we check in on each other, keep each other’s spirits up. I miss them, I miss the office banter. But I must admit, I miss the dogs too!

Elmo, Barney and Vincent might have driven me crazy sometimes, with their barking and dog toys everywhere. I did sometimes feel l was running a kennels rather than a top financial planning company, but the joy they brought to every day was worth the occasional puppy mishap.

Now the trio have gone home to their owners to spend the days with them while this lockdown lasts, I am left talking to their owners and my other colleagues by phone, email and online instead.

We, the human members of the Future Life team, have also spent a lot of time on the phone to clients doing the practical stuff. Where clients have the monies and the strategy, we have been getting the fiscal year allowances in over the first few days of this new fiscal year. This means they can benefit from the current reduced prices due to the pull back in the investment markets and puts them in a good position for potential long-term growth.

But our conversations with clients are not just about investments and pensions and trusts and equity release. Now more than ever my conversations with clients are like conversations with friends.

We have always offered a very warm welcome at our offices to our clients. We usually remember their favourite type of tea of coffee, fruit or Yorkshire, cappuccino or latte. And we always offer our visitors sweets from our infamous sweetie bowl (which mysteriously followed me home when I started home-working!) Now we may not have that face-to-face contact, but we can still hold out that hand of friendship, still offer metaphorical coffee and tea.

In fact, I have started phoning some clients to talk about almost anything but finance. Some people are elderly, some cannot go out for other reasons; all of us are missing human contact. So every day I am spending about two hours talking to them about life, nature, anything. It is not the same as face-to-face contact, but it all helps. We can all do our bit to help each other get through this strange time. And then one day we will be back in the office offering you your favourite coffee and making sure you don’t fall over that squeaky toy as you make your way to our meeting room. And I’ll be back behind my office desk surrounded by my colleagues  - and three happy dogs.