80% of firms that don’t have a Business Continuity Plan close within 18 months of a major incident, research reveals.

Businesses unprepared for the disruptive weather currently hitting Britain face extinction, say the British Standards Institution (BSI). With news that the icy weather is set to continue for the next few weeks, BSI is warning businesses of the perils of operating without proper planning.

The Institution sponsored research which reveals that 80 per cent of businesses that don’t have a Business Continuity Plan close within 18 months of a major incident such as persistently disruptive weather.

Some 93 per cent of managers surveyed suffered disruption in their organization as a result of the 2010-2011 winter weather, with 35 per cent reporting major disruption.

Howard Kerr, Chief Executive at BSI says: "There are an alarming number of businesses without contingency plans in place and these are the ones most likely to suffer negative commercial consequences as a result of the bad weather.

"The reality is that Business Continuity Management is not a complicated science and businesses all across the country need to consider what is necessary to protect their organisations."