Research by the Institute of Management (IM) shows that UK businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable in the face of disasters such as the World Trade Centre (WTC) attacks and the foot-and-mouth epidemic.
The research shows that 58% of UK organisations were disrupted by WTC events, while 44% were hit by foot-and-mouth.
Despite these high-profile events occurring in the last year, nearly 30% of businesses still have no contingency plans in place to lessen the impact of such catastrophes.
IM reported that having such plans in place is effective. It said that organisations that regularly tested their plans were 50% more likely to report reduced WTC impact as a result.
The Business Continuity Institute has formed a group to work on industry guidelines for the finance sector, after receiving encouragement from the Financial Services Authority.
