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You are here: Home - News & Articles - Are you prepared for a major incident..
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Are you prepared for a major incident like the Buncefield Oil Refinery?
What would your business do if it was involved in a major incident? Perry Jeandren of Towergate Risk Solutions Poole, part of one of the top 10 insurance brokers in the UK, looks at how you can prepare your business to cope with a major incident.
It is a scary fact, but between 40 and 45% of businesses that suffer a major fire, flood, or similar incident at their premises, which prevents them from being used for a week or more, will NEVER recover and ultimately cease trading. Moreover, it is believed that up to 80% of the survivors never get back to their pre-loss position.
CBI Director General Dig by Jones said: - "Consider Buncefield, it was a miracle that no-one was killed, but more than anything it showed that the unexpected can happen at any time. Please-take a long, hard look at how you safeguard your workplace and employees. Make a conscious decision about what is right for the assets in your company. The preparations you make now could help your business survive a catastrophic event be it natural or man-made, continuity is vital and your customers will expect no less."
Take a moment to consider a few of the problems your business would face in the event of a major incident:
- who will answer your phones?
- where will the mail be delivered?
- how will you access customer data?
- how will you collect from debtors?
- what will the disruption do to sales?
It doesn't matter whether your business is retail, office based, or manufacturing the thing that keeps your business afloat is cash flow. If you cannot access your premises and cannot collect the money you are owed, even for a short period, then you could end up losing your business with all the consequences that brings. What makes it worse, is that this situation is completely avoidable. When your business suffers a major incident and you cannot use your premises there is a very simple solution that allows you to continue trading, it’s having a tried and tested Business Recovery Plan with WORK RECOVERY SPACE. Work Recovery Space is an area in alternative premises, that is set up and ready for your individual business as soon as possible.
With more and more businesses openly concerned about how their trading partners and suppliers would cope if disaster struck, having a proven Business Recovery Plan puts you at a competitive advantage and gives you the confidence that you’All continue to be in business yourself.
Another thing to consider is if your business supplies Local Authorities or Public Utilities, you may have to provide proof of a continuity of trading through a testable Business Recovery Plan simply to meet their entry requirements and to meet their obligation under the Civil Contingency Act 2004. Being able to sign a service contract with clients that ‘guarantees’ no loss of service in the event of a major incident also gives you a powerful edge over your competition.
Tower gate Risk Solutions Poole takes risk management very seriously. If you do not have Work Recovery Space, Towergate Risk Solutions can offer you Work Recovery Space through Seamless Continuity Planning (SCP), a company specializing in Business Recovery, who have 9 purpose built offices around the UK, cabled for computers and phones, ready for you to use at a moments notice. Critically Seamless can pre-profile your IT environment in advance to make the process of bringing your back office system online even quicker.
What's even better, Towergate are negotiating with insurers to give risk managed commercial insurance clients who use Seamless Work Area Recovery a better deal on their Commercial Insurance premiums.
With a Business Continuity Plan at your disposal, you represent a much better risk, as your business will have the best chance of getting back on its feet after an insured event
Business Interruption insurance may pay for costs in trying to re-establish a business, but the one thing insurance can never cover is the loss of trade and goodwill, the very things that so often cause a business to cease trading.
Towergate Risk Solutions Poole is able to offer, in conjunction with SCP, a special discounted price for its clients which represents fantastic value for money, especially when you consider it could mean the difference between continuing to trade or losing your business.
For further information on Seamless Continuity Planning or Commercial Insurance, please contact Perry Jeandren at Towergate Risk Solutions Poole on: 01202 634899.
Article written by Perry Jeandren | Date added: May 21, 2006 | Related Content: The Contingency Planning Guide.