Few aspects of life are still as they were prior to Prime Minister Boris Johnson putting the 海角视频 into lockdown on March 23, 2020.
For the majority of businesses, dealing with coronavirus has been the toughest period in living memory - with the economic effects eclipsing even that of the financial crisis that engulfed the world in 2008.
From the eye-watering number of job losses to the sheer amount of state spending propping up businesses, almost everything about the past 365 days has been unprecedented.
For the North West, a region famed for big employers in sectors including retail and manufacturing, the crisis has been something of a mixed bag.
Like every 海角视频 region, there have been a huge number of jobs lost and a deeply worrying number of firms collapsing into administration - however others have managed to weather the storm.
Here, BusinessLive looks at seven of the companies who defined the story of how North West businesses battled the virus, one year on from Mr Johnson's lockdown order:
B&M
As an essential retailer, Merseyside-headquartered discount retailer B&M was allowed to remain open throughout the pandemic.
And as one of few brands physically open to customers, queues forming outside the discount chain’s shops was a familiar site to many during the three national lockdowns.
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But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the firm - and in April, it took the decision to temporarily close 49 stores and furlough hundreds of staff members at affected sites.
At the same time, B&M upped pay for its employees by 10% to recognise their hard work.
Stores slowly began to reopen and the firm began to see some sharp increases in revenue.
In November, it reported a 29.5% increase in revenues for the previous six months, and subsequently returned £3.7m in furlough cash to HMRC.
Two months later, B&M announced it would reward staff with an extra week’s wages and shareholders to receive a special dividend of £200m after revenues soared again - by 26.6% for the 2020 “golden quarter”.
That payout included a £30m windfall for chief executive Simon Arora.
Finally, this month, the firm reported “strong growth” and raised revenue forecasts for the financial year.
Boohoo
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Online fashion giant Boohoo had a more eventful pandemic than most.
From booming sales to allegations of modern slavery to buying up household brands such as Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, the Manchester-based firm was never far from the headlines over the past 12 months.
Boohoo reported at the start of this year that pandemic revenues had increased by 42% over the 10 months to the end of 2020, with particularly strong growth in the US.
Despite the successes, its rapid growth was overshadowed by allegations of poor working practices at some of its suppliers in Leicester and abroad.
It was a key player in buying up falling physical empires - acquiring the Debenhams brand in January for £55m meaning the closure of its 188 shops, followed by a £25m deal for Arcadia's Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands.
Despite the imminent reopening of non-essential retail, industry experts this week told BusinessLive their view on whether the firm's rapid growth will continue - and what the damaging allegations could mean for the fashion giant.
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Hotter Shoes
The CEO of the country’s biggest footwear maker revealed to BusinessLive in January how Covid had caused his firm to return to its 1950s 'direct to consumer' roots - and is thriving because of it.
Ian Watson of Hotter Shoes recently said he was “absolutely thrilled” at the surge in the market as the 海角视频 eyed the end of lockdown- and that he expects a further bounce after what was a difficult 12 months for the industry.
Skelmersdale-based Hotter Shoes is a firm that sells over 1.3m pairs a year, and last year closed the majority of its physical stores during a CVA.
But Mr Watson now has big plans for the coming years, and technical innovations including 3D foot scanning machines and augmented reality fittings will see his firm well-placed for the future.
Last month, Hotter announced soaring online Christmas sales in the six weeks to December 31 - leaping by 27%.
That came after a period of transformation for the firm, which saw 59 stores close and a switch to digital channels, while retaining 23 physical outlets.
Living and working in the 'new normal'
DF Capital
Making staff redundant, putting a pin in any European expansion and being forced to only spend a culminative two weeks in the office since taking over as chief executive were not exactly on the to do list of DF Capital's CEO when he took on the job a year ago this week.
However Carl D’Ammassa dealt with those problems and more over the last 12 months as he steered the AIM-listed business through the height Covid-19 pandemic to where it is now, on the verge of major expansion plans.
Mr D’Ammassa, in an exclusive interview with BusinessLive this month, outlined what challenges the commercial lending specialist faced during the first year of his tenure as well as his vision for its future in the city and beyond.
After securing a bank licence at the end of September 2020, DF Capital promptly relocated its headquarters to Manchester, and Mr D’Ammassa has vowed to double its headcount over the next year or so.
The bank is also set to relocate to bigger offices in the Grade II-listed St James Buildings in Oxford Street next month in a huge boost to its capacity when further Covid restrictions are lifted.
Yodel
Liverpool-headquartered delivery giant Yodel has, unsurprising, benefited from the string of lockdowns caused by Covid.
In September, the independent parcel carrier announced plans to create almost 3,000 new jobs ahead of Christmas.
The independent parcel carrier said it will recruit for 2,500 self-employed and 450 employed roles, as it prepared for what it expected to be the "busiest festive period in recent history".
The new roles for the Liverpool-headquartered firm were said to include couriers and parcel sorters at one of Yodel’s 50 locations nationwide.
Yodel said its recruitment drive was in response to the demand for online retail, which increased "dramatically" last year.
Manchester Airports Group
It will come as no surprise that Manchester Airports Group, which also owns London Stansted and East Midlands airports and employs over 3,200 people at the North West site alone, has been among the 海角视频 firms worst hit by the pandemic.
As England was subjected to three national lockdowns from March 2020 onwards which included crippling travel bans, firms like MAG went from one crisis to the next.
In October, the group said it planned to cut 892 jobs across the three sites, blaming the "absence of dedicated support for the sector" and a lack of testing for 海角视频 passengers, undermining passenger confidence in air travel.
It was estimated a week later that including external contractors, the jobs of over 2,000 people working at Manchester Airport were at risk.
Things went from bad to worse and in December, MAG revealed its revenues had plummeted by 82.5%.
The half year interim results showed a loss in net income of £81.9m - down from a £270.7m profit for the same period the year before. Revenues were down from £535.9m to £93.8m.
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Cartwright Group
The Cartwright Group in September axed around 480 jobs as it put two businesses into administration, citing financial difficulties caused by the pandemic.
The manufacturing giant, based in Altrincham, said S Cartwright and Sons coachbuilders and Cartwright Fabrications had , as staff turning up to the Broadheath head office were met with an audio message from administrators Deloitte.
Staff were called into a meeting at the site on Atlantic Street at 3pm on Monday, and were told to expect formal communication the next day.
Staff told the M.E.N. that hundreds of employees were told to go home and ring a telephone number the following day for an 'official announcement'.
Earlier this month, Newton-le-Willows-based Network Space exchanged contracts on Cartwright's former South Manchester HQ.
Jaguar Land Rover
Prior to the coronavirus crisis hitting the 海角视频, JLR began 2020 by cutting 500 jobs at its Halewood plant in January as the firm continued to battle uncertainty caused by Brexit, a downturn in sales in China, and the industry fallout from the VW diesel emissions scandal,
Once the pandemic's impact had arrived on 海角视频 shores, the firm responded quickly, implementing a temporary shutdown of all plants and rigorous cost and investment controls to conserve cash - but they suffered big losses.
As a result of the impact of worldwide lock downs on sales and plant shutdowns, free cash flow was negative £1.5bn in April and May 2020.
That led to the firm reducing the amount of contract agency workers in its manufacturing plants, including Halewood.
It wasn't revealed how many contract agency workers would be affected, but it was believed to be as many as 1,000.
Despite a difficult year, the car maker said in June it expected a "gradual recovery" of sales consistent with industry estimates and improving cash flow.
In January, the firm posted pre-tax profit of £439m as it welcomed a quarter-on-quarter rise for the three months to December 31, 2020, up from £374 million during the summer, and also a year-on-year rise of £121 million on the final quarter of 2019.
Very
Another firm who were well placed to benefit from more and more people ordering items online, was Merseyside-based Very Group.
In October, ahead of Christmas, the group revealed in annual results that its retail sales had tipped above £2bn for the first time - an increase of 10%.
Prior to that, CEO Henry Birch about the company's lockdown success, being Amazon's biggest 海角视频 challenger - and the firm's big recruitment drive.
He said despite the global pandemic, his company is "definitely in growth mode" after it saw sales soar and annual revenues top £2bn for the first time.
Mr Birch was buoyant about the company's future, with jobs having been created. He also pledged Very's "complete commitment" to Liverpool, the city in which it boasts an illustrious history.