Vaccines have dominated the news agenda for the past eight months, and with the promise of booster jabs in autumn and travel being permitted for the fully vaccinated this summer, the conversation is unlikely to end any time soon.

Nearly 2.7 billion total doses of various Covid-19 vaccines have so far been administered, and the extent of coverage, especially in the UK, will determine how a myriad of businesses operate over the next year and beyond. This will be especially true of hospitality, leisure and other industries reliant on close contact. It is also clear that zero Covid is not a realistic option in the eyes of the government, meaning that many policies adopted during the pandemic could be here to stay.

Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital discusses how investors have changed their decision making process:

“The UK’s vaccine rollout has progressed at a staggering pace and has seemingly provided a way out of continued lockdowns and the prolonged closure of businesses. There are, however, indications that it will be a long time before we are back to living “normally” with social distancing and some measures set to stay in place even after July 19th.

“This has led to businesses making semi-permanent changes in their operating models, whether that be in not relying on physical space as heavily as before or utilising technology to minimise close contact. Technological solutions to problems brought about by the pandemic mean that even those businesses that traditionally would not even consider themselves ‘tech’ businesses are now forced to be at the cutting edge of available solutions.

“Decision making in investments, therefore, has had another layer added to it. We now must consider far more carefully how adaptable a founder is willing, or has proven, to be. This applies to hospitality owners implementing the use of apps as well as businesses being able to cater to hybrid working needs of their employees.”