What is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is about making sure that you have prepared your business for the unexpected, so that when your business is affected by some form of disruption you can continue to operate and get it back to a normal level of operation as quickly as possible. Your business can be affected by many forms of disruption, such as IT failure, power failure, flooding, fire, crime, loss of communication, being let down by a supplier, a key member of staff leaving or being ill etc.

Business continuity is not something that only large businesses should think about. No matter what size your business is, or how many people it employs, your business should be prepared, because if it has any form of interruption, yours and your employees’ livelihoods could be affected. Below are some real facts:

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

Approximately 121 small to medium size businesses went out of business either as a direct or indirect result of the Manchester Bomb in 1996

58% of UK organisations were disrupted by September 11^th, - one in eight was seriously affected

How do I ensure my business is prepared?

By having a simple plan and procedures in place that are known and understood by all those that work within your business. Putting together your business continuity plan does not have to be too time consuming, and it can be put together for little outlay. The first step is to look through our Assessment Checklist. Take time when answering the questions on the assessment and ensure that you document relevant details/information/procedures. At the end of the assessment you will have a business continuity plan. Obviously the larger and more complex your business the more detailed your plan may need to be.

Keep developing your plan

It is important that you periodically review your plan, to reflect staff turnover, updates in technology etc. You may wish to delegate this task to someone within your business who will regularly brief you and other members of your organisation.

Rehearse your plan and train your staff

Once your plan has been developed, ensure that you test it periodically. You will never know if you have omitted something if you don’t test your plan. This process is a practical investment in your company, and should an incident happen for real, you will be better able to cope with it. Testing your plan can be achieved in various ways. For example:

Operating for a period of time without key personnel

Operating without IT for a couple of hours

Ringing key stakeholders/suppliers/customers to check that you have the correct contact details

Having a brainstorming session with your managers/key staff/employees and thinking through various scenarios, such as: what if your premises were flooded; what if there was a power cut; what if the phone system went down; what if a critical piece of equipment broke down for a number of hours/days; supplier delivery or service problems; customers cannot pay you etc.

Advice, Useful Contacts, Links and Publications

If you would like further advice regarding business continuity please contact the Isle of Wight Emergency Planning Service via our contact page.

Below are numerous links to other sites that deal with business continuity management.

Business Continuity Institute

Small Business Service

Continuity Central

Financial Sector Continuity

Business Continuity (City of London website)

Disaster Recovery – Business Tips for Survival from the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Expecting the Unexpected – Business Continuity in an Uncertain World – 32 page booklet (pdf 522 KB), published by London First, the Business Continuity Institute and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office.

Please note: pdf documents may take a while to download over a standard 56K modem. If you do not have a version of acrobat reader - this can be downloaded via our downloads section.