Business Continuity

Business Continuity Plans are generic plans designed to help organisations respond to and recover from disruptions, whatever their source and whatever aspect of the business they affect.

It can be hard to imagine what vulnerabilities your business faces. When things are going well it's easy to focus on 'today'  and forget to think about what happens when things go wrong.

Every business has its own set of risks regardless of size and sector and it's vital to factor these into your business plans and adapt these as your business changes and grows.

Are you prepared?

Can you answer 'yes' to the following questions?

• Does your business have a continuity plan?
• Have you identified someone responsible for leading a crisis response?
• Do you know what processes are critical to continuing in business?
• Do you have arrangements to communicate with staff, or their relatives in a crisis?
• Could you cope if a large number of staff were absent?
• Are your business computer records protected and backed up off site?
• Are your suppliers (including utilities) resilient with their own Business Continuity Plans?
• Can you access essential equipment at short notice?
• Have you tested your assumptions about recovering from a business crisis or range of emergencies that might affect your business?

If you have answered no to any of these questions it's time to act and prepare your contingency plan.

For top tips on preparing your contingency plan please view a short tutorial provided by Business Gateway click to view

If your business has been affected by Covid-19, what now?  Here are some practical steps to help you plan to move forward.  click to view

A Business Continuity Management Toolkit is available from .Gov.uk  The Business Continuity Institute is another source of information which is businesses may find useful.