Firms on disaster alert

Business owners in Staffordshire are being advised to put together contingency plans to cope with disasters such as summer floods, terrorist attacks and bird flu by Staffordshire's Civil Contingencies Unit (CCU).

It wants them to establish a business continuity management plan after research showed that 80 per cent of firms hit by a major incident go out of business in 18 months. Ex-RAF officer and emergency planner Andy Marshall, director of Staffordshire CCU, said it was essential to be prepared.

"It is vital for businesses and the local economy that preparations are made by all organisations in the county," he said.

"Businesses can be affected by a range of problems, from staff sickness or IT failure to a major fire or flood. All organisations should take action and adopt a business continuity management approach to ensure that they can bounce back when problems occur."

He said there were a number of good sources of information available to help businesses to increase their resilience and improve their preparations for the worst possible scenario.

Councils have a duty to prepare and maintain their own continuity plans.

Regular meetings are held to discuss IT back-up, services for vulnerable children and adults, payment of creditors, highways and waste management.

Staffordshire CCU, which is based in Stafford, also helps to run a countywide group looking into the potential risk of avian flu.

The unit exists to support local authorities and liaises closely with other organisations in co-ordinating responses to emergencies.

Call 01785 898618 or log on to www.staffordshireprepared.gov.uk