Advice For Businesses And Voluntary Organisations
Business Continuity is a series of plans that each business should have in place to enable continuous service to their customers in the event of a major incident or crisis.
This could include one or more of the following:
- Loss of a major building or facility e.g. fire, storm damage
- Large staff absences e.g. epidemic / pandemic
- Severe weather e.g. snow, flooding
- Loss of utilities e.g. electricity, gas, water, telephones, IT (Information Technology)
- Major Industrial accident e.g. major fire, release of chemicals
80% of businesses affected by a major incident close within 18 months.
90% of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to shut within 2 years.
58% of UK organisations were disrupted by the September 11th disaster. 1 in 8 was seriously affected.
Why do you need a Business Continuity Plan?
Experience has shown that organisations with business continuity arrangements in place are more likely to stay in business and recover quickly in the event of an emergency than those who do not. It is not only the major emergencies that disrupt organisations; a wide range of day-to-day disruptions can threaten the smooth running - or even the very existence - of an organisation.
Developing a Business Continuity Plan will assist you to manage your risks to ensure that, at all times, your organisation can continue operating to, at least, a pre-determined minimum level. This will enable you to continue service delivery during, and beyond, a crisis.
For more information, please see the link below:
An essential survival guide for small and medium sized businesses and to help you prepare for all manner of potential disruption is "Business Continuity for Dummies". Produced in partnership with the Cabinet Office, the Business Continuity Institute and the Emergency Planning Society, this guide will help you introduce vital business continuity measures into your business. Further information on the guidance can be found at: