Even the horrific events of the World Trade Centre (WTC) attacks have not been enough to ensure all UK companies focus on risk management and business continuity planning.
This is according to AIRMIC (Association of Insurance and Risk Managers) council member Nick Chown who is warning companies must have comprehensive plans in place now that there are unprecedented levels of risk.
He said: "Before September 11, enlightened organisations would have regarded continuity planning as a key element of their strategic approach to an active risk management programme, but since the previously unimaginable events in New York, even those organisations will have been rapidly reviewing and upgrading their plans.
However, he made the point that many such companies are now content they have a good business continuity plan in place "but how many of those plans are now outdated in the light of September 11, how many lie untested, gathering dust on the office-shelves of senior management," he said.
"There is an urgent need to `dust off' and test business continuity plans and make sure they work successfully when faced with the challenges of an ever-changing 21st century world of risks. The scale and types of risk that businesses now face are very likely to be different to those when the BCPs were formulated."
He even raised the question of how many organisations still do not have a business continuity plan in place.
Chown presented a workshop on this topic with Dennis Flynn of Crisis Solutions Limited today at the AIRMIC conference in Birmingham.
The focus of the conference was changed after the WTC atrocities, says the organisation, to improving risk management and providing practical answers to the hardening insurance market.
