Be ready for any disaster

Just under half of small firms in the UK have no plan in place to ensure that their business could survive an emergency or disaster., according to research from AXA.

Many are not covered against risks that have a much greater chance of hitting their business than terrorism, such as a fire or a flood. If the unexpected happens, companies without a contingency plan could lose thousands of pounds or even go out of business.

The insurer said the fact that these companies had such a plan was worrying because of the time it can take businesses to recover from a disaster. Research by AXA found that almost one in five small to medium-sized firms had been hit by a disaster.

One in 12 said it took them more than six months before they were up and running again and it took one in 20 of them more than a year to get their businesses back on track. AXA's risk control strategy manager Doug Barnett said: "Businesses face a number of challenges and risks and they need to do everything possible to reduce the chances of these happening. "They also need to have an effective plan in place to deal with them if they do.

Every year, thousands of enterprises fold but some of these could be saved if they had a strong business continuity plan in place." Even if a business does have plans in place it is important that companies tweak them so that they are prepared for potential seasonal risks and carry out annual test to see they will work.

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