Unplanned change can cause financial struggle, disruption to supply chains or even some reputational damage. In 2020 alone we’ve endured floods, fires, Brexit and a global pandemic. The need to have a robust and resilient business is more important now than ever.

Having strong business continuity controls in place promotes a way of mitigating threats, applying a framework that allows key functions of the business to continue, even if the going gets tough!

Does your organisation have a business continuity plan?

Some of the key ways to ensure your business remains resilient include:

• Produce and maintain a written business continuity policy
• Undertake a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
• Develop a Business Continuity Plan and then test it
• Ensure employees are fully trained and aware of their business continuity responsibilities
• Assess risk to employees, suppliers, customers and others who could be affected by activities; both online and in person
• Risk assessment focusing on the organisation’s critical activities
• Create strategies and continuity plans to ensure the continuity and recovery of your critical activities

From our extensive experience, we know that having a fully implemented business continuity management system which complies with the requirements of ISO 22301 will enable your organisation to:

• Bring together international best practice to help organisations respond to, and recover from, disruptions effectively.
• Reduce the impact on the business and its stakeholders in the unlikely event of things going wrong
• Reassure clients, suppliers and regulators that the organisation has robust systems and processes in place for business continuity and disaster recovery
• Improve business performance and organisational resilience
• Have a better understanding of critical issues and areas of vulnerability
• Give a clear and detailed view of how the organisation operates, in relation to strategic planning, risk, supply chain, business transformation and resource management