Do UK businesses have plans in place to deal with future COVID-19 disruption?

Today, a study reveals that UK businesses are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic with renewed confidence, as businesses feel better equipped to deal with disruption caused by COVID-19.

3 in 5 (60%) businesses have strategies in place to deal with future COVID-19 disruption, including localised lockdowns and COVID-19 waves.

This has increased in comparison to last year, when less than half (39%) of businesses had plans to deal with local lockdowns and two-thirds of companies had no plans in place for a resurgence of COVID-19, according to a twin report from 2020.

The report, entitled ‘Driving Better Business Resilience After COVID-19’, was commissioned by Driving for Better Business (DfBB), a government-backed Highways England programme, and surveyed 150 SME business owners and over 150 decision-makers at board level in large enterprises. The study follows DfBB’s Better Business Resilience report in 2020, which surveyed the same organisations at the height of the pandemic.

The findings provide a comparative snapshot of the attitudes and behaviours of SMEs and large enterprises towards business resilience across the UK, tracking progress over the past year. The report demonstrates the top concerns for business leaders, information currently reported at board level, and the preparedness of UK businesses to deal with future COVID-19 disruption.

Top business concerns post-COVID-19

Half (50%) of UK businesses said that coping with additional demand as a result of lockdown was their main concern currently, as businesses across the UK seek to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of productivity.

This has doubled in comparison to last year, when less than a quarter (22%) of UK businesses shared this view. In 2020, companies were most concerned with rebuilding their business and surviving additional lockdown measures.

Commenting on the findings, Simon Turner, Campaign Manager, Driving for Better Business said: “Today, businesses face diverse and competing challenges as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the challenge of remaining agile and maximising financial strength has remained a business priority for all businesses, just as it was in March 2020, and will continue to be post-COVID-19.”