Advice for businesses

How would your business cope in a crisis?

Every day, businesses across the UK face a variety of potential emergencies, such as cyber-attacks, fire, flooding, severe weather, civil unrest and severe illness.

There are some simple steps you can take to protect your business:

  • Develop a Business Continuity Plan. To minimise the disruption to normal operations, you should develop a plan in advance. It would be impractical to develop plans for every single potential incident, so you should focus on those that are most likely to happen.
  • Be alert to cyber crime. In the event of fraud or a cyber crime, you can contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit their website
  • Check your flood risk. Sign up for flood alerts from the Environment Agency or phone Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
  • Data backup. Consider storing data backups in different locations to ensure the information you hold is more resilient to cyber-attacks, fire or theft
  • Ensure you have adequate and up-to-date insurance. Having the right level of insurance cover for your property and belongings will provide valuable peace of mind.
  • Keep ‘risk’ on the agenda. Make sure you discuss it with your employees and colleagues and ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.

For more information on business continuity, and preparing and protecting your business visit the Business Continuity Institute at www.thebci.org.