Business continuity is the process that an organisation puts into place to ensure that essential activities can continue during an incident and get back to a normal level of operation as quickly as possible. Does your business or organisation have a plan to recover from a major incident? Would you know what to do if an incident occurred preventing your business from trading as normal? An unforeseen event could happen at any time. Incidents such as:
- loss of premises (caused by fire or flood, severe weather and so on);
- loss of key personnel;
- computer failure or loss of data; or
- failure of critical suppliers.
Could result in the following:
- loss of income;
- loss of customers;
- higher insurance payments; or
- a complete failure of your business.
A business continuity plan is essential to protect the well-being of any business or voluntary organisation. A simple plan will:
- help manage the impact of an incident and facilitate quicker recovery;
- set out clear actions, roles and responsibilities, giving staff confidence in a crisis; and
- enhance your reputation with customers and suppliers (many will only do business with an organisation that shows business continuity preparedness) .
Further guidance
For more guidance on how to do business continuity, go to the Suffolk Resilience website. Follow the link to Business Continuity to find templates, guides and case studies.
Suffolk Resilience Business Continuity Forum
The Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit has set up a forum for businesses and voluntary organizations across the county to promote business continuity. The forum runs free half-day seminars, workshops and training events on business continuity.
The objectives of this forum are:
- To provide businesses with information on how to develop their business continuity arrangements.
- To create opportunities for businesses to learn from each other.
- To ensure that businesses can provide each other with practical support and resources in the actual event of an incident.
For more information on the forum or help with business continuity contact:
Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit
Endeavour House
8 Russell Road
Ipswich
Suffolk IP1 2BX
Phone: 01473 265321
Email: emergency.planning@suffolk.gov.uk
