Business Continuity

BCM publications are available on the Documents page

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Be Prepared

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 placed a duty on local authorities to put in place business continuity management arrangements and also provide advice to local businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management.

What is business continuity?

A business continuity plan details what you will do in the event of an emergency. It should be written by someone who knows how the whole business is run. For large organisations it may be better to create departmental / team / service plans.
Business continuity involves thinking ahead about what might affect your business and planning to ensure your business can survive the disruption. A disruption might mean your business was unable to:

access a key building or site
unable to use IT systems
loss of staff and key personnel
a supplier cannot deliver to you or you cannot deliver to your supplier / stakeholder.

The benefits

Considering business continuity early on, rather than dealing with the situation when the disruption occurs, will help prepare you to offer 'business as usual' in the quickest possible time.
To withstand serious incidents such as flooding and fire, it is essential to re-open as normal in the shortest possible time. Even a relatively short interruption to normal activity can damage customer relationships and your reputation beyond repair. Business continuity may involve making contingency plans for the sudden loss or unavailability of:

work sites
staff and skills
suppliers and partners
specialist equipment
technology and communications
data and information.

How can we help?

We can give you general advice and support and signpost you to organisations that specialise in business continuity.
For more information:

E-mail:
info@clevelandemergencyplanning.info
Telephone:
01642 232442.

Various documents relating to BCM are available on the Documents page.

The Business Continuity Institute has a website found here which offers BC guidance and support to members. It also provides access to an online incident simulation game. BC24 is a 15 minute single scenario game to test an organisation's ability to manage crises in a simulated situation, focusing on the consequences of a flood and supply chain failure. Information on the game can be found here.