Information for businesses

Did you know:

• 90% of businesses that lose their data in an emergency close within two years.
• 80% of businesses suffering a major incident close within 18 months if they have no effective BCM plan.
• 58% of UK organisations were disrupted by events on September 11th 2001. One in eight was seriously affected.

Disasters can have a devastating impact on the ability of local firms to keep their business operational both in the short and the long term. Recovery after a disaster needs to be considered carefully and more and more businesses have specific business continuity plans; a template plan can be downloaded from this site.

Business Continuity Advice
Free business continuity resources have been developed by a consortium of Local Authorities working in partnership with businesses, charities, the emergency services, utility providers and central government.  These resources are available through the London Prepared website.

To assess how prepared your business is, start off by completing the "10 minute checklist" on the London Prepared website.  Next, select from the other resources avaialable on the site to make your business more prepared.

Business forum
The presentation available below in pdf format was given to members of the business community at the Wandsworth Business Forum and gives a brief overview of the business continuity process.

 Business continuity planning presentation (67 kb)

You can also download a business continuity planning template in MS Word format.

 Business continuity planning template (229 kb)

Additional advice for businesses can be found in two publications produced by London First. 

 Expecting the Unexpected (pdf) was produced in association with the Business Continuity Institute and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and gives a fuller explanation of the business continuity process.

 Secure in the Knowledge (pdf) was produced in association with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and the Security Service. It is a follow-on from Expecting the Unexpected and it is about the protection and prevention measures you can take for your business.