Yet with carefully planning there is no reason why companies should be ruined by natural disasters. Business Editor Paul Grinnell reports.

IT IS a fact of life that disasters big and small do happen.

And that was illustrated last week in Peterborough when the city was first hit by a massive blaze that left a major warehouse gutted and with the thick plumes of smoke that billowed across the city forcing road and rail links to be closed.

As if that wasn't enough, the next night the city was left reeling by an earthquake that measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.

Thankfully, there was little in the way of damage but it could have been much worse.

And for many businessowners such out of-the-blue disasters could spell the end of a company. It is not so much damage to property but just the sheer inability to carry on trading.

But there is a solution – planning to manage in the event of a disaster.

The Disaster Management Centre, run by the Advanced Group, is sited in open countryside at Sibson, just 12 miles to the west of Peterborough and close to the A1. It features everything a modern company might need to go on trading in the event of a disaster.

For instance, the centre has 800 work units in eight office suites of varying sizes from 45 seats to 276 seats equipped with all the necessary communications technology, plus kitchens and restrooms.

There is also an 18-seat boardroom with a 50-seat reception area. The centre has its own energy and water provision, car parking for up to 600 vehicles, aircraft landing strip and helicopter pad. The 400- acre site is guarded and covered by CCTV.

Group sales director for the Disaster Management Centre Amanda Johnson said: "The majority of businesses are just not prepared for disaster.

The take-up should be a lot better than it has been.

"Many companies think it is a good idea but they are simply not prepared to spend the money. But failing to have a business contingency plan in place could lead to a company being sued for breach of contract if it can be shown that a failure to plan for disaster left the firm unable to go on trading."

She added: "A lot of insurance companies will also demand to see some provision made for business continuity.

She said: "But all sorts of things can leave a business unable to trade. It's not just fires and eathquakes. Power failure or theft can leave a firm vulnerable.

"These things do happen and failing to plan is effectively planning to fail and is not acceptable in this day and age – an inability to trade for even short periods of time can lead to the firms going out of business."

The recovery centre operates a sliding scale of annual charges which allow companies to choose the extent of the disaster recovery service they require.

Firms can choose a full restoration of vital data of new hardware, which can be reloaded to existing premises or to an alternative site.

But a company can also opt to move its staff into the centre, in which case a seating plan will have been worked out in advance for staff so the company can move straight in and keep running as if nothing had happened.

Mrs Johnson said: "Firms can contract to be with us for up to 90 days and can extend that by another 90 days – this gives them the breathing space to decide what to do to manage the disaster.

"The centre can have companies up and running in a matter of hours."
The importance of disaster planning can be gauged from the calibre of companies that already have contracts with DMS.

These include the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, which employs 525 people at Lynch Wood, and manages 400,000 accounts, the travel giant Thomas Cook, which employs 2,000 people at Bretton, and Peterborough City Council, which employs about 6,000 staff.

And in a move to encourage more firms to plan for a disaster, Peterborough City Council has teamed up with crisis management experts RMIS to stage a special conference to outline the best ways for executives to protect thriving firms.

RMIS director Robert Garbett said: "Directors and managers recognise the importance of protecting their firms from threats but have little time or money to investigate the threats and survival options thoroughly. Others simply think that it will never happen to them.

Business leaders need to recognise that they will continue to be busy right up to the point when the worst happens and they are staring at the ashes of a once prosperous company.

"The economic success of the region depends upon them having a plan to survive the unexpected. This event has been designed, not to scare but to advise and provide real solutions and assistance to the problems faced by businesses in achieving resilience."

The conference, which is free and is also being supported by Peterborough City Council, will take place on April 24 at the Marriott Hotel, in Peterborough.

To book a place visit www.rmisltd.co.uk and click on Events or e-mail events@rmisltd.co.uk


Backing IT up – away from the office

A key aspect of modern business life is an increasing dependence upon IT, with most companies having their business critical information and sometimes even their whole business on computers. This is potentially putting companies at greater risk than ever.

General manager of the Peterborough office of Complete IT, a provider of IT support services and solutions, Tim Killeen, said: "Companies need to have a clear and open strategy for backup and they must follow it.

"There are a number of ways to protect a business and its data from potential disasters and also to ensure business continuity. A simple backup of data is a good place to start.

"This is really no more than just a copy – you can backup to another computer or to a CD, but most companies choose to back-up to an external tape. Backing up to a tape is fine, but only if you make sure that the tape leaves the office every night and the tape needs to be changed every day. Consideration also needs to be given to who handles the back up and what needs to be done if they are on holiday or off sick.

"Some companies choose to back their information up off site and this relatively new idea has some significant benefits."