Buckinghamshire Business First has announced it will be taking part in a business resilience pilot project aimed at better supporting Buckinghamshire-based organisations to prepare and protect themselves against major challenges that are outside of their control.

The ‘CODE RED – Business Resilience Scheme’ sees the Buckinghamshire Business First Growth Hub join forces with the Berkshire Growth Hub and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, working alongside the Thames Valley Resilience Forum and local resilience teams to deliver the new trial service, which is funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) as part of its Local Resilience Forum Innovation Fund for 2023/24.

How it will help businesses

Through the pilot scheme – running to April 2025 – the new service aims to support businesses’ ability to remain resilient and continue to operate when they are negatively impacted by incidents outside of their usual control. These incidents could include issues such as power outages, cyber-attacks or even flooding. As part of the scheme, businesses could receive direct messages through an alert system to notify them of incidents that have taken place.

Support with business resilience and continuity planning is available to all local businesses through Buckinghamshire Business First, who bring together information and advice from local and national resilience partners, as well as local business experts, to support businesses through emergency situations with vital practical advice.

Plan, prepare and adapt

The guidance aims to back businesses to plan, prepare, be ready and adapt, so that any risk and impact is minimised. The service will highlight a range of useful resources and practical steps businesses can take in supporting their respective continuity plans – this includes referrals to relevant business support webinars, advice and additional services, and direct messages sent through an alert system that complement existing schemes such as the National Severe Weather Warning Service, the Met Office Hazard Manager, and Environment Agency flood alerts.

All of these resources and more will be available in one central location to make resilience planning easier for Buckinghamshire’s business community.

Heather Dean, Head of Business Support at Buckinghamshire Business First, said: “When an emergency strikes, businesses can often be left in the dark and unsure as to how events will affect them. The ‘CODE RED – Business Resilience Scheme’ aims to provide the reassurance and practical information that will help businesses navigate their way through a disruptive situation, such as power outages or severe weather events. Through effective continuity planning and preparedness, we can increase the resilience of our businesses and communities when faced with adversity.

“Buckinghamshire Business First is delighted to be working closely with the Thames Valley Resilience Forum to get critical information through to the business community most effectively, and to collaborate on this project with our partners at the Berkshire Growth Hub and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.”

Due to the programme being at a pilot stage, Buckinghamshire Business First and its programme partners are also dedicated to listening to suggestions as to what might also be built into any future service.

It is therefore encouraging interested businesses to provide thoughts and feedback on what could be incorporated into a more permanent potential programme. Any future programme provision will be subject to future funding opportunities.

For further information, please contact the team at Buckinghamshire Business First:

T: 01494 927130   E: info@bbf.uk.com