Business Continuity Planning Documents
Business Continuity Planning (BCP) or Business Continuity Management (BCM) as it is sometimes called, is the process of anticipating potential events or disasters and planning to ensure that your business can return to "business as usual" as quickly and painlessly as possible in the event of a disruption. No business, even a sole trader, is too small for BCP.
Our Business Continuity Planning folder contains a Business Continuity Checklist and useful Guidance Notes on Business Continuity Planning which together will assist you in preparing your own business continuity plan using our Business Continuity Template Plan.
A disaster can strike any organisation and potentially bring the business to a grinding halt and flood, fire, power failure, IT system failure, staff illness etc. can happen at any time. HM Government estimates that around half of all businesses experiencing a disaster with no effective plans for recovery, fail within the following 12 months.
Having effective Business Continuity Planning can also be an important part of the process of tendering for work (particularly if tendering for work in the public sector). It can also help businesses get the most competitive insurance premiums as insurers are increasingly recognising the benefit of BCP and other forms of risk management and will offer premiums that reflect suitably protected businesses.
Business Continuity Planning Documents is part of Business . Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Business for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is business continuity planning and why does my business need it? +
Business continuity planning is anticipating events that could disrupt your business and planning how to keep going or recover quickly when they hit, whether that is a flood, fire, power or IT failure or key staff being unavailable. It matters because disruption is common and costly: government figures suggest around half of businesses that suffer a disaster with no recovery plan fail within a year. This sub-folder helps you build a plan before you need it.
Is a business continuity plan a legal requirement? +
For most ordinary businesses, no. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places continuity duties on emergency responders and local authorities, not on private firms, so a typical business is not legally obliged to have a plan. Some regulated sectors, such as financial services, do face specific requirements. Even where it is not compulsory it is strongly advisable and often demanded by customers and tenders. This sub-folder helps you meet those expectations.
What should a business continuity plan include? +
A workable plan identifies the risks and disruptions you could face, the critical activities you must keep running, who does what in an incident, how you communicate with staff, customers and suppliers and how you recover systems and data. Working through a checklist first stops you missing anything important. This sub-folder provides a business continuity checklist and guidance notes to use with a template plan, so you build a plan that fits your business.
Is my business too small to need a continuity plan? +
No business is too small, not even a sole trader. A smaller business is often more exposed to a single point of failure, such as one key person, one supplier or one system, so a simple plan can matter more, not less. The plan just needs to be proportionate to your size and risks rather than elaborate. This sub-folder's documents are designed to be adapted to businesses of any scale.
How can business continuity planning help beyond surviving a disaster? +
It brings side benefits worth having. A solid continuity plan strengthens tender bids, especially for public sector work where it is often assessed, and can lower insurance premiums as insurers increasingly reward businesses that manage risk well. It also sharpens your understanding of what really keeps the business running. So the effort earns its keep even in years when no disaster strikes. This sub-folder helps you produce a plan that delivers these gains.
