Business continuity services provider, ICM Continuity Services, has released data showing the number and nature of invocations of business continuity plans. Data covering the first half of 2010 indicates that hardware issues consistently remain the major cause of business disruption in the UK.

Vodafone UK has attained the globally recognised ISO/IEC 27001:2005 (ISO 27001) certification relating to the provision of IT services such as application hosting, data management, technical support and consultancy for its business customers.

ICM Continuity Services has won a record £3.44m a year contract to provide a London-based global financial services group with dedicated stand-by capabilities. The five and a half year bespoke agreement will see ICM provide one of the largest dedicated UK stand-by dealing capabilities to be located outside of the City of London.

Following the devastating peatland and forest fires in Russia and resultant smog in Moscow and the surrounding regions, Marsh is urging affected organisations to review their current business continuity plans and insurance provision.

Brit Insurance has announced the promotion of Ray Cox to chief executive officer of its UK Strategic Business unit. Cox will join the executive management committee and report directly to group CEO Dane Douetil.

Marsh has promoted Richard Waterer to the newly created role of head of operational risk for Marsh Risk Consulting (MRC) in the UK. Waterer will report to Jeff Colburn, UK MRC leader.

Vocal has released a new software offering for schools. SafeText and SchoolAlert have been designed to allow parents and pupils to contact teachers and the school out of hours quickly and simply without exchanging any personal contact information. Messages can be sent to individual parents, teachers, pupils or specific groups, regardless of location.

Airbus has become the first aerospace manufacturing firm to achieve certification to BS 25999, the business continuity management system standard. The certification is for its wing manufacturing site in North Wales.

Strategic Thought Group (STG) has introduced business continuity capabilities into its Active Risk Manager software. Active Risk Manager Business Continuity Management (ARM BCM) addresses the need for assured business continuity and recovery in the event of major incidents.

The first non-physical all risks supplier cover for supply chain has been bound by Zurich Global Corporate. A global information technology firm has become the first to purchase.

Analysis of invocations at SunGard Availability Services throughout 2009 has found that, for the first time ever, more business interruptions are being caused as a result of workplace disruptions rather than by technology.

This year's Business Continuity Awards Gala Dinner was hosted by Ruby Wax at the Park Lane Hilton on May 12, and was attended by some 600 representatives from the business continuity and risk management profession. Read on for the results...

The future of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) could be at stake as too few members are active in promoting the organisation, claims Grant Scott ACII, president of the Insurance Institute of Leicester. He says that too many larger organisations are not pulling their weight when it comes to promoting membership of the professional body.

Broker Marsh has issued business continuity, supply chain and insurance advice to organisations affected by continued air traffic disruption following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland and subsequent ash cloud covering European airspace.

Renewable energy provider Infinis has deployed Double-Take Availability business continuity software across its critical applications and business data, ensuring that email systems, job scheduling application and database servers are all protected against the risk of downtime.