Any business, no matter how big or small, should be taking simple and straightforward measures now to make their business more resilient from fire and a wide range of other potential risks.
Following a serious fire:
- 25% of businesses never re-open.
- 80% of companies who don’t recover in a month are likely to go out of business.
- 75% of businesses without business continuity plans fail within three years.
Consider what you would do to prepare for an emergency that may disrupt your business.
If there was a power outage for over three hours, will your emergency lighting be sufficient and operate effectively, and will your automatic fire detection system still function appropriately?
With business continuity management, solutions should be developed for any short, medium or long-term disruptions. Ideally your business continuity plan will contain instructions aimed for all three levels.
The potential business interruption due to an adverse event is difficult to predict and will vary according to the type of incident. This will have an impact on the period of disruption, and possible financial loss to your business may extend much longer than the event itself.
As the weather climate is changing, flooding is now a major concern for businesses, with long-term damage to building infrastructure including electrics, fire prevention and protection systems a real possibility.
If you are not prepared and don’t have a business continuity management plan you risk:
- Loss of reputation and/or loss of customers;
- Financial, legal, and regulatory penalties;
- Human resource issues;
- Increased insurance premiums;
- System failures, putting lives at risk;
- Or, at worst, the complete failure of your business.
Take a look at this case study from a local business which experienced a fire.
What can Business Continuity Management do for you?
- It enables you to plan your future and keep your business moving forward.
- It can protect your business from any unexpected or unforeseen disruptions – fire, flood, illness, strikes, long term power or technology failures.
- It can help your business to continue operating and function in the event of a disruption. It can provide the strategic framework for improving your businesses resilience to interruption.
If you plan your business continuity management effectively, it will be a valuable asset and enable your business to continue operating effectively, minimising disruption and reducing any negative impact to your business.
Benefits may include saving your business money in the long term and the ability to demonstrate your supply chain resilience against your competitors.
Further information
- Wiltshire & Swindon Local Resilience Forum
- Dorset Local Resilience Forum
- Business Continuity Institute
- Fire Protection Association
- Government business continuity guide