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Business continuity – if you fail to plan, you plan to…

May, 2025

With margins being squeezed, and staff under mounting pressure to deliver, there’s a growing risk that mistakes will be made, and accidents happen – and that can undo all your years of hard work. Andrew Metcalf, managing director of PR and public affairs agency Maxim, looks at what all this might mean for a business, and for its reputation.  

In recent months Maxim has seen a noticeable rise in enquiries from companies who have found themselves in the crosshairs of their respective industry regulator or facing the prospect of negative press coverage, public criticism and reputational damage. 

Plan ahead of an incident happening 

Fighting a rearguard action when it comes to a business-critical incident is never easy, nor is it successful. The key to mitigating the impact on your firm’s reputation is to have planned for it. Put some time aside beforehand to prepare for a series of eventualities, no matter how unlikely they are of coming to pass. 

“Don’t worry, if it happens, we’ll just handle it on the day.”  

This is something we often hear from business owners who believe that regardless of the scenario everything will turn out alright on the day, or night. Rarely does this level of optimism turn out to be well grounded. 

If your company is involved in hazardous activities and processes, with the heightened prospect of injury to staff or incidents such chemical leaks or fires then accidents can happen. It is inevitable that you will have a business continuity plan in place, however, do you have a crisis communications plan ready to swing into action? 

You need such a plan. The first 24 hours of any incident are business critical. Within 72 hours the damage has been done, and for many businesses that damage can be terminal for both their reputation, and the reputations of their senior management. 
 


How do you answer these questions? 

If your managing director was out of the office when an incident happened, and couldn’t get back, who would be the spokesperson for the business when it comes to talking to the media, stakeholders and staff? 

If you can’t answer this question, then it sounds like you don’t have a business continuity plan, which covers how to handle the public communications aspect of an incident. 


Have you considered all the potential issues that could affect the day-to-day operation of your business and their impact on the local community and staff – and how the media might react? 

If the answer is no then you need to develop a list of crisis scenarios – and plan for how to manage them with the media and beyond. 


Could you respond quickly and professionally to a media enquiry following a business critical event, say within two hours? 

If the answer is no then you need to have a series of draft media comments on file ready to adapt appropriately and use in the event of an incident. 


If you had an incident that generated press interest, could your senior management represent the company professionally to a TV reporter or at a press conference? 

If the answer is no then you need to get them media trained. 


And do you have an in-house PR and communications team with the necessary skills and experience to take charge and manage the media fallout?    

If the answer is no then consider talking to an agency with the experience to put a plan in place, provide the media training and support your in-house team and senior management on how to handle a media incident. 


If you can’t answer yes’ to any of the above questions then you need to put a crisis communications plan in place. 

At Maxim, we have 30 years of experience in helping companies across many industries – including in education, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, leisure and hospitality – to develop practical crisis communications plans that can be put into action should an incident happen.  

The good news is that getting a plan in place shouldn’t take too long and gives you peace of mind that you’re prepared should that fateful day arrive, and you can mitigate the bad news. 

Planning for a crisis isn’t going to make a crisis happen, but it can make sure the crisis is over more quickly.
 

Andrew Metcalf - Director

Andrew Metcalf

Maxim / Managing Director

posted in: reputation management,

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