Following a multi-million pound investment to enhance and upgrade its business continuity centre in Hamilton, Scotland; IT services and business continuity provider Phoenix is extending an open invitation to anyone interested in IT or business continuity, to visit its newly extended and improved centre on 30th April for educational presentations, guided tours of the facility and hands-on experience of the technology.

News in brief: Week to 5th April 2013, including news from SunGard Availability Services, RPC, AJ Gallagher, EIOPA, Kroll and PwC.

SunGard Availability Services has today published a report suggesting that steady and sustained growth over recent years in managed services adoption has led to an improvement in the UK’s business availability practices. They believe organisations have made a shift in their approach to business continuity, building resilience into the business through investment in cloud and virtualisation technologies, as well as managed recovery programmes.

The Business Continuity Awards recognise the endeavours of business continuity, security, resilience and risk professionals. Judged by an independent panel of experts for exceptional performance, service and results in this dynamic industry, this year's winners will be announced and awarded at the Gala Dinner on Thursday 30th May 2013 – an evening that brings together industry leaders for a night of networking and celebration. This year's shortlist follows...

From 18th March until the end of April, in Phoenix’s 18 centres across the country, experts will be available to answer questions on a host of business continuity related matters, including business continuity management planning, recovering data in the cloud and workarea recovery. These local clinics are being offered free of charge during BCAW.

Xchanging has been appointed by Homecare Insurance, part of CPP Group, to provide business continuity and recovery solutions for its infrastructure. Under the three year contract, Xchanging will provide solutions to provide Homecare with stand-alone capability as part of its approach to risk management, prevention and recovery. This will include a hot-start business recovery centre, provided by Xchanging.

The British weather continued to catch UK businesses by surprise in 2012, according to new research released by the Chartered Management Institute, British Standards Institution, the Business Continuity Institute and the Cabinet Office. Three in five firms suffered financially as a result, with managers estimating the average cost to their organisation in excess of £52,000, and some as high as £1m.

Telefónica UK has become the first UK mobile operator to have achieved ISO 22301 across all of its operations from BSI. ISO 22301, which has evolved from the internationally recognised British Standard BS 25999, endorses a plan of management practices and preventive solutions to protect an organisation against unexpected disruptions which may affect ability of the company to operate.

The deadline for entries for the Business Continuity Awards has been extended to 28th February. The Business Continuity Awards recognise business continuity, security, resilience and risk professionals whose innovative strategies and industry savvy make them stand out above the rest. Judged by an independent panel of experts for exceptional performance, service and results in this dynamic industry, this year’s winners will be announced at a gala dinner and ceremony on Thursday 30th May at the Hilton on Park Lane in London – an evening that brings industry leaders together for a night of networking and celebration.

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) has launched its 2013 Manifesto Meeting the Growth Challenge in the House of Commons to an audience of ministers, MPs, lords, senior government officials and brokers. Jonathan Evans MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on insurance and financial services, hosted the reception.

Phoenix has announced the launch of its cloud-to-cloud backup service, following its first customers roll-out in the UK. Salesforce.com has chosen to back up its customer data to its own secure data store, which allows them to dictate the precise terms and conditions of their back-up.

The Met Office is warning of the risk of disruption as heavy snow is forecast across many parts of the UK tomorrow, Friday. A band of snow will push into the west into Friday morning with parts of Wales, the west of England and later Northern Ireland particularly at risk of heavy falls of snow and blizzard conditions in strong winds. A red warning has been issued for upland parts of southern Wales where accumulations of 10 to 15 cm are expected. Businesses are advised to review continuity plans where necessary.

A new survey published by the Business Continuity Institute and the British Standards Institution shows concern over cyber attacks continues to mount. The survey also reveals that 71% see the use of the Internet for malicious attacks as a major trend that requires a business continuity response with 42% seeking to manage the prevalence and high adoption of Internet-dependent services, such as the cloud, within their preparedness activities.

A senior Lloyds executive is suing the British bank Lloyd's Banking group for £1 million in lost earnings, alleging that he was forced out of his post after blowing the whistle on "startling" failures in the bank's disaster recovery systems. In a submission to the Central London Employment Tribunal, Stephen Clements, claims that two-thirds of the bank's systems were not subject to resiliency tests, leaving "very serious gaps” in their ability to recover critical IT systems.

The spread of violence and instability from Syria and Libya; increasing terrorism across key growth economies; the heightened risk of social unrest driving regime change; and resource nationalism, will be the key drivers of political risk for 2013, according to the fifth annual Political Risk Atlas, from risk analysis firm Maplecroft.