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London Businesses Undertake Unprecedented 'Stress Test' Ahead of the Olympics

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For the first time ever, businesses across London are coming together to undertake the Capital’s largest co-ordinated test of IT, telecommunications and transport requirements. 
 
The ‘Stress Test’, scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2012, aims to simulate conditions during the London 2012 Games later in the summer, when many businesses will employ alternative working arrangements such as flexible hours to alleviate disruption to their operations. 
 
Businesses of all sizes and their employees are encouraged to implement their ‘Games-time’ alternative working arrangements on 8 and 9 May and simultaneously conduct a simple and confidential online survey provided by Deloitte. The survey results will help organisations’ evaluate their plans and provide an overall industry view of the measures being adopted. Registration and participation in the survey is free to all businesses.
 
The Stress Test organisers aim to ensure that London has the right information to remain open for business during the Games, and in particular that employees can still access their workplace and use telecommunications, which will provide a major boost to the economy over the Summer. 
 
The initiative is being led and promoted by Canary Wharf Group plc and Deloitte working in partnership with the Government Olympic Executive, Transport for London, The Greater London Authority, City of London Corporation, the Financial Services Authority and the London First Cross-sector Safety and Security Communications Group (CSSC). A number of Canary Wharf and the City’s largest employers are already committed to the scheme. 
 
Organisations that wish to participate are required to register at www.deloitte.co.uk/stresstest. 
 
The process will provide a web-based registration and survey for participating organisations. The survey will generate feedback on what kinds of alternate working arrangements have been employed and how effective they were. After collation the results will be issued in a report. Additional data will also be collated, through Transport for London and the Office of Communications (OfCom), to understand the effects of the plans on transport and communications networks.  There is an initial registration form, which will log your involvement and generate your organisational survey and the individual survey that you may want to disseminate to staff to develop further information.
 
Organisations are being encouraged to implement as many aspects of their alternate working arrangements planning as is practicable on the 8th & 9th May. This is not just about ‘home-working’, but includes other measures such as changed working hours and working from alternate sites. Inability to test plans to their full extent on these dates does not preclude participation, as the survey will still allow data to be developed through any level of participation. It should be noted however that this initiative is not about providing assistance to organisations in developing and implementing their alternate working plans.
 
Russell Price, Continuity Forum Chairman commented:
"This Stress Test is a great chance to assess just how your organisation may cope when the Greatest Show in the World comes to London.  Understanding how the Olympics may impact on your organisation during 'Games Time' is a vital part of the preparations needed to make them not only a national success story, but to ensure you gain too!
 
Its not just the IT and communciations side of things. Take the time to try out any flexible working and alterations to delivery patterns. These will be essential to the smooth running of your operations in just a few months time and by joining in with work stream you'll also be helping the broader planning across and beyond the capital."     
 
For further information, please contact:
 
Hamish McDougall
Canary Wharf Group plc
E: hamish.mcdougall@canarywharf.com