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Business Link Northwest

Free impartial business information and advice

Coping with extreme weather 

At the beginning of 2010 heavy snowfall caused a range of problems for businesses.

Delivery delays affected stock levels, and many employees struggled to make it through the ice and snow into work.

Business Link Northwest has plenty of advice and guidance for firms affected by the weather, from information about allowing employees time off to details of how home working could keep your company moving along in a crisis.

Business Link Northwest is your free to use, independent business support and information service. If you would like to speak to one of our business advisers, call us now on 0845 00 66 888 or use our contact us form.

info iconKeeping things going

Difficult weather conditions can mean businesses face disruption to their day-to-day operations, with suppliers delayed, projects falling behind schedule and deliveries held up.

Read our helpful guide to managing your suppliers for advice on how to minimise the difficulties.

Unexpected problems show the real value of contingency planning. See our guide to crisis management and contingency planning.

Lightbulb iconCan your staff work from home?

Technological developments over recent years mean many people are able to do much of their work from home, which may be an ideal solution for employees unable to get to their workplace because of bad weather.

Business Link’s guides to employees working from home and to mobile technology have lots of useful information on how to go about enabling your employees to do their jobs away from the workplace.

Guides iconCan't get to work?

If employees cannot make it into work there may be a number of concerns: Do they still get paid? Does the time need to be made up later? Our guide to allowing time off work has the answers.

Alert iconAre you ready?

Being prepared is the key.

Here are some tips on planning ahead to keep your business operational if poor weather strikes:

  • Think about what you would do if your current premises couldn’t be used – could you share premises with another local business?
  • Try to ensure that you are not overly dependent on individual members of staff by encouraging them to train other people in key processes that are essential to the everyday running of your business. Remember that people may live closer to the office, use different modes of transport or use different routes, so if one person can’t get into the office, another person may be able to carry out their key tasks.
  • Consider stock piling critical supplies and materials in case your supplier is unable to deliver the goods and materials you require.
  • Compile a continuity plan and share it with staff so that the company is prepared for such eventualities.
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