Patrick Holmes has been framing Sydney’s fine art for more than three decades but the pandemic forced him and his craftsmen to “leap into the 21st century”.
“There was the fear of COVID and the fear that the business was going to collapse in a heap,” Mr Holmes told“About 40 per cent of our business just stopped. We thought the other 60 per cent might stop as well. We had to adapt.”Using a $10,000 grant from the City of Sydney, the business hired a contractor who adapted design software used by architects to create a program that visualised how artwork would look when framed.
“It changed our thinking about what we were as a business from being crafty and hands-on to bringing us into the 21st century.Finding a way to replicate face-to-face appointments online is something many businesses have had to do since Australia recorded its first case of COVID-19 on January 25, 2020.to start making hand sanitiser, and fashion brand Scanlan and Theodore repurposed its factory in Fiji to manufacture personal protective equipment.
Samantha Bailey-Jensen, a director of Bailey Print Group, which specialises in making signage and event displays, recalled the business lost close to $400,000 over a few days when events were cancelled in early 2020.