The number of people on furlough is at its lowest since the start of the pandemic as the economy is starting to rebound. But a number of industries, such as travel, hospitality, and retail, are still challenged, and furlough measures are set to be phased out by the end of September.

This opens the door to a number of pressing challenges for shareholders and business owners. It is undoubtedly that case that the furlough scheme has enabled a number of entrepreneurs and companies to delay making difficult and painful decisions.

But while some businesses are set to come back stronger, it is wishful thinking to believe this will be the case for all companies. A number of businesses will take a lot longer to recover, and redundancy decisions that have been postponed up until now will need to be taken imminently.

In response, company owners and business leaders may face public and, potentially, media opprobrium. It may be perceived that businesses and high-net-worth individuals have benefitted from significant government support over the last 18 months — and they are not paying back that support in-kind through maintaining jobs within their companies, despite whether or not that is financially possible.

Redundancies will need to be treated with extreme caution, and these decisions should not be communicated without thoughtful and careful consideration.

• Get on the front foot. It is wishful thinking to believe that redundancy decisions won’t reach the public domain, whether that is through the local media or former employees’ social media accounts. It is important to be proactive about communicating and explaining the plans; don’t falsely believe it is possible to hide such important decisions.

• Put employees first. Communicate openly, candidly, and honestly with employees, and do not let the news come as a late-notice surprise. Team members respect employers who are honest and communicative, so use internal channels, such as newsletters, intranet platforms, and team communication platforms, such as Slack, to keep employees up to date.

• Approach matters with sensitivity, but do not be disingenuous. It is important to find an appropriate Tone of Voice for communicating difficult news, such as redundancies and business cuts. Too often, many businesses fall into the trap of trying to spin the announcement in an artificial way (“Business goes through restructuring to build stronger business”). This is not the time to spin.

Anti-wealth sentiment across the UK and, indeed, the world is on the rise. Difficult news, such as redundancy decisions, is a potential flashpoint for negative, unfair, and hostile coverage. Company owners cannot walk into this situation blindly.