Are UK businesses, and in particular London businesses, unprepared for the London Olympics in 2012? A recent report by Deloitte would suggest so. Over two-thirds of large companies in the UK expect the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to have virtually no impact on their ability to operate “business as usual”. Only 24% of London companies expect a medium level of disruption with just 16% planning for a high level of impact during the Games. They do realize that this event is a bit larger than the average Saturday football match, don’t they?
Surprising? Perhaps No.
I was living and working in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics myself, and while for a large portion of the city it appeared to be business as usual, for other parts the the impacts were severe. Back home in Norway, without an Olympic even to spur continuity efforts, as many as seven out of ten businesses are without a continuity plan.
Major challenges
According to Heather Hancock, London 2012 Partner at Deloitte,
An event of this scale, with sites across London and throughout the country, will present some serious challenges to those companies who operate in and around venues for the Games if they fail to understand and plan ahead. This makes some of our findings really surprising.
Rick Cudworth, Head of the Business Continuity & Resilience team at Deloitte, follows up by saying
Many of these businesses need a wake-up call. They operate in service industries where people are vital, where the supply chain is time critical and where having products on the shelf or food to serve in restaurants is essential to their daily business. Thinking through the impacts that an Olympic-scale event could have on logistics, the supply of goods and the movement of staff is essential. We believe that – with insight and planning – businesses can maximise the opportunities to benefit commercially from London 2012. The clock is ticking and the planning needs to start now.
Well spoken.
Should you be concerned?
Key findings from the report include
- 12% of companies (15% in London) admit their preparations for London 2012 aren’t on track;
- 36% of UK companies think transport will present most disruption to their business; 23% are concerned about the potential for staff to be unavailable;
- Very few businesses are concerned about the potential risks from supply disruption (8%), resource scarcity, such as hotel availability (7%) or security incidents (6%).
Cudworth adds
The responses from our survey suggest that many companies are either underestimating the impact the Games will have on their business or they haven’t conducted accurate assessments. Most businesses will have business continuity plans in place, but they will typically plan for short-term disruption. The Olympic and Paralympic Games last for a combined 29 days over a six week period and complacency around planning assumptions could have repercussions at Games-time.
Perhaps it’s time to consider the Business Continuity Standard BS 25999?
Links
- deloitte.com: UK business overlooking Olympic opportunities and risks
Related
- husdal.com: The decade of living dangerously
