Climate change activist group, Extinction Rebellion is planning a week of demonstrations in the capital, focused mainly in and around Westminster. Businesses in the area are urged to consider continuity plans and contingencies -- particularly in relation to loss of access and especially relating to the safety of certain members of staff, such as those who are disabled or pregnant.

Engagement with C-level execs in business continuity planning is on the rise, but IT staff are still too heavily involved. This is according to the a study conducted by Databarracks, which asked over 400 IT decision-makers in the UK a series of questions surrounding critical issues relating to IT, security, disaster recovery and business continuity practices.

As domestic Brexit negotiations sway between intricate chess moves and matches of tiddlywinks, contingency planning for a hard Brexit is finally taking centre stage across both government and industry. Ant Gould looks at the latest plans

One of the world’s most significant commercial hubs has recently found itself at the centre of uncharacteristic unrest. Hong Kong’s future is hard to predict, but the business impact could have global implications. Martin Allen Smith reports

A recent study reveals that nearly two in five companies have lost business due to lack of cybersecurity expertise. The September 2019 study conducted by Forrester Consulting shows that cybersecurity performance is vital to achieve commercial success and a higher focus on security can make all the difference to business.

Fusion Risk Management has secured investment from Vista Equity Partners, supplying additional funding for the business continuity and risk management solutions provider to further scale its platform and accelerate product development. The investment in Fusion is made by Vista’s Endeavor investment fund, which is focused on mission-critical, high-growth enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses.

The Government has announced an inquiry into the causes of the large-scale electricity failure that affected large parts of the UK on Friday last week. Almost 1m people were affected by the outage across a large geographical area, which occurred after almost simultaneous problems at two power stations.

Everbridge has completed its acquisition of threat intelligence solutions provider NC4, creating an end-to-end critical event management and threat assessment platform for business continuity.

Chancellor Sajid Javid has doubled this year’s Brexit funding with today's announcement of an extra £2.1bn for no-deal preparations. This consists of an immediate cash boost of £1.1bn to prepare “critical areas” ahead of the UK’s October exit from the European Union, plus a further £1bn available to enhance operational preparedness this year “if needed”.

Only a third of businesses have complete confidence in their disaster recovery capabilities, according to insight from Databarracks. Just 35% of respondents to the company’s annual Data Health Check survey have full confidence in their plans, while just 49% have complete confidence in their current back-up solution.

More than 12 countries in Europe, including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, have confirmed record-breaking temperatures, following the warmest June since records began in 1880, according to meteorologists. All four countries remain on extreme heat alert, but buildings haven’t been designed to deal with high temperatures, and most businesses struggle to keep their offices cool when things go above the mid-20s.

The Met Office has warned that parts of Britain could become warmer than the Algarve as a heatwave sweeps across the UK, and Public Health England has responded by issuing an amber heat-health warning – just one level below the ‘national emergency’ red warning. From a pleasant 25°C in Glasgow and Edinburgh to a scorching 35°C in London, the current heatwave could smash the high record of 36.7°C currently held for the hottest day in July. The highest ever UK temperature - 38.5°C - set in Faversham in August 2003, is also currently ‘under threat’.

We often hear that political stability is essential for business continuity, yet we find ourselves in a position where we are having an election for a new prime minister while MPs in the candidates’ own party are openly questioning the immediate viability of their most fundamental commitments. It seems that political stability will not exist for a long time to come.

Avalution Consulting has acquired business continuity research and staffing firm, BC Management with which the business continuity and IT disaster recovery consulting firm has worked for a number years. The combined firm's offering now includes business continuity consulting (both project-based and outsourced), the Catalyst Business Continuity Software solution, permanent placement staffing and data analytics, research and custom benchmarking.

A new study has highlighted the scale of the battle UK business leaders face when business disruption hits, as 54% admit to suffering from stress-related illnesses or damage to their mental wellbeing in the aftermath of cyber attacks, IT outages or network failures. Research from Sungard Availability Services highlights the extent to which senior executives are linked to their company’s resilience. Findings from the study of 250 C-Suite respondents in companies with 500+ employees in the UK, found 49% of CEOs have suffered from stress-related illnesses and/or damage to their mental wellbeing, a figure which rises to 62% among CIOs/CTOs.