Anyone that has been involved with Scottish Continuity for any length of time will know that we are not just interested in creating resilient businesses in isolation, but that we are trying to establish "Resilient Communities". Indeed, it was the realisation that a business was only as strong as the supply chain that keeps it going that led to the founder members starting Scottish Continuity back in 1995 - in anticipation of the Millennium Bug biting!
It was reading a report earlier today about the readiness of councils in England and Wales to weather the winter (pun intended, I'm afraid!) that prompted this blog. It seems that a number of councils were caught out by the severity of the weather last winter, and ran out of salt for the roads as a result. Commendably 78% of those surveyed therefore planned to increase their stocks for this winter and placed orders with suppliers accordingly.
Unfortunately 18% of those had still not received all of the ordered supplies by the 1st of October. Luckily we've had a mild start to the winter so far, but for how long? They've been let down by their suppliers, and their plans are now compromised if the winter weather closes in. Could your suppliers be your "weakest link"?
I'm sure that most of you reading this will have a Business Continuity Plan, and I'm sure that due diligence was carried out on your suppliers to ensure that they all had one too (didn't you?). But remember - a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. Your plans should include options to help you ride out any failures in your business community.
Easy to say, but where do you start? That's why we're here - to help you become aware of the issues and plan accordingly. A good starting point would be attending the Resilient Scotland event we are hosting on the 23rd November (see event page). I hope I'll see you there!
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