While bombs, fires and floods capture the headlines, almost 90 percent of crises are nowhere near as dramatic. It is these quiet catastrophes that have the potential to damage your businesses most valuable assets. These can be destroyed very quickly unless strongly defended at times when the speed and scale of events can overwhelm normal operational and management systems.

Recent research has suggested that, on average, 20 percent of all businesses will experience some form of unplanned event once every five years. Whilst it is unlikely to be as catastrophic as 7/7, there is still the need to think about how you would cope with the more mundane events, such as power cuts or transport problems.

The are 5 key steps when creating a business continuity management plan:

• Understanding your business
• Developing Business Continuity Management strategies
• Developing a Business Continuity Management response
• Developing a Business Continuity Management culture
• Exercise, maintenance and audit

By following these steps your business will be better placed to deal with any disaster that may occur. Further advice can be found by contacting the Contingency Planning Unit sccemt@surreycc.gov.uk.