UK economy loses £11.1 billion a year to major disruptions

The Business Continuity Institute estimates 0.8% of UK GDP is lost due to lack of Business Continuity Management

[UKPRwire, Thu Mar 26 2009] The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) today announced that it has estimated that the UK economy is losing £11.1 billion a year, the equivalent to 0.8% of UK GDP, to major disruptions due to lack of Business Continuity Management within organisations based in the UK.

Further to the recent Chartered Management Institute’s ‘A Decade of Living Dangerously’ report, the BCI researched key findings across 17 causes of major disruptions to calculate, for the first time, the cost impact to the UK economy. The figure shows that organisations are still not looking seriously at Business Continuity Management to provide a solid framework for managing the impact of potential disruptions and significantly reduce the cost impact to the UK economy.

“In the current economic downturn, customers and suppliers will inevitably go out of business and it is vital that an organisation understands its dependency on critical suppliers. The lack of availability to essential products can have a serious impact on business. Disruptions to the supply chain will be one of the main business continuity concerns for 2009 and will run way into 2010” comments Lyndon Bird FBCI, Technical Director, the BCI. “The BCI has recognised this risk and feels it is important to help advise organisations of all sizes to build a simple and workable plan that will help them overcome and recover from the pressures of an interruption faster.”

The BCI works to help organisations develop greater resiliency against major operational disruptions and will this week help raise the awareness of Business Continuity Management through the annual, Business Continuity Awareness Week. A survival guide and on-line assessment survey, ‘Weathering Difficult Economic Times’ have been designed to help organisations of all sizes evaluate existing Business Continuity Management strategies.

To download and complete the BCI’s online self-assessment survey and survival guide, please click here: http://www.thebci.org/bcmsurvivalguide.html

About Business Continuity Institute (BCI)
Based in Caversham, United Kingdom, The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was established in 1994 to “promote the art and science of Business Continuity Management” to assist organisations in preparing for and surviving minor and large-scale man-made and natural disasters. The Institute enables members to obtain guidance and support from their fellow practitioners, as well as offers professional training and certification programmes to disseminate and validate the highest standards of competence and ethics. It has more than 4,500 members worldwide in more than 85 countries. For more information, visit http://www.thebci.org