New BSI survey highlights areas of weakness in the business continuity planning of Britain’s FTSE250 companies

As many as 25 percent of the UK’s larger businesses are putting themselves at unnecessary risk by failing to prepare for crises such as IT or supply chain failure, according to a new report issued by the British Standards Institution (BSI). BSI's Business Barometer, launched today to coincide with the 36th World Standards Day, surveyed 100 senior decision makers from FTSE 250 businesses across several industry sectors, including banking and financial services, engineering, retail and media.

Highlights of the survey show that:

* Over a quarter (28 percent) believe businesses are not prepared for failure in the supply chain. Recent events such as natural disasters and major business supply chain issues demonstrate the vulnerability of business to respond to and recover from such events.

* One in four (25 percent) think businesses are not prepared for catastrophic failure of IT.

* Almost half (45 percent) of those surveyed believe businesses are not prepared for forced relocation due to unforeseen circumstances, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters.

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, commented: "The FTSE 250 has a market value of over £200bn, and it is alarming that such a large proportion of businesses - around a quarter of them - do not feel adequately prepared for major issues such as catastrophic IT failure or supply chain problems. It is vital that the hard core of businesses without adequate provision put appropriate measures in place to protect themselves as early as possible."

The role of standards in managing risk
The survey revealed a marked contrast of preparedness for crises between businesses who widely adopt British Standards and those who don't. 78 percent of businesses who adopt standards felt prepared to handle catastrophic IT failure, compared to only 28 percent who don't adopt standards. Furthermore 71 percent of businesses who adopt standards felt prepared to deal with failure in the supply chain, compared to 43 percent who don't adopt standards.

"Standards provide a practical framework for managing uncertainty and, in addition, offer tangible fiscal benefits to business. Recent DTI research valued standards as contributing £2.5bn per annum to the UK economy. There are tools available to help minimise the impact of crises and it's very high risk for businesses to ignore the benefits they provide," said Mr Low.

Protecting consumer and business interests
All of the companies surveyed believe that consumers view businesses that apply British standards more favourably than those who don't. Furthermore, 87 percent of senior business decision makers agreed that with the increased reliance on outsourcing, standards are more important than ever because they enable businesses to have confidence in the way sub-contractor's work. BSI is working closely with business to develop new standards for relationship management, risk management and business continuity management to better serve their needs.

Mr Low concluded: "We hope these findings, released on World Standards Day, will demonstrate to UK businesses the need to employ the use of standards strategically to plan for the future, provide consistency and quality for customers and ultimately help protect and grow the bottom line."

World Standards Day (WSD) is celebrated on 14th October and the theme for 2005 is ‘Standards for a safer world’. WSD is a means of recognising the importance of standards and standardisation in increasing efficiency, reducing barriers to trade, improving safety, helping to provide consistent and quality products and services, improving productivity and supporting regulation.

For further information on British Standards please visit: www.bsi-global.com/british_standards

•Date: 14th Oct 2005 • Region: UK • Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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