In today’s unpredictable world, disruption is not a question of if, but when. Whether it’s a cyberattack, supply chain interruption, or natural disaster, the organisations that thrive are those that prepare in advance. A business continuity plan (BCP) is the blueprint that ensures your operations, people, and assets remain protected minimising downtime, safeguarding reputation, and securing financial stability.

Without a plan, organisations risk extended outages, customer dissatisfaction, and significant financial loss. With one, they gain resilience, agility, and confidence to face uncertainty head-on.

Here at Macro, we understand that facilities management (FM) is a vital part of business continuity planning (BCP). Buildings, people, and critical assets are at the heart of operations — and without a resilient facilities strategy, even the strongest continuity plans can quickly fall apart.

As Howard Stephens, Senior Quality Assurance Manager explains: 

“Facilities management is often the invisible backbone of business continuity. Without well-prepared facilities teams, even the best continuity plans can fall apart.”

That’s why FM and BCP go hand in hand, and we’ve curated this guide to creating a BCP.

What this guide covers

This guide will walk you through:

• The essential steps to create an effective business continuity plan
• Common mistakes to avoid during business continuity planning
• A practical, ready-to-use business continuity plan template

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is a structured strategy that enables businesses to continue operating during and after disruptive events. It outlines how to maintain essential functions in the face of challenges such as:

• Cyberattacks or data breaches
• Natural disasters like floods, storms, or earthquakes
• Supply chain disruptions or shortages
• Utility outages or system failures
• Political instability or unforeseen incidents

Put simply, a business continuity management plan gives organisations the tools to respond quickly, maintain stability, and recover effectively.

Why is business continuity planning important?

Business continuity planning is not a nice to have, it’s a fundamental business requirement. An effective BCP:

• Minimises downtime and disruption by keeping essential functions running.
• Safeguards resources, materials, and workforce, ensuring employees and assets remain protected.
• Maintains customer trust by demonstrating resilience and reliability.
• Meets regulatory requirements in industries where compliance is non-negotiable.
• Protects revenue and financial stability during crises.
• Demonstrates leadership accountability to stakeholders.
• Enhances resilience, allowing the business to adapt to change.

This is particularly critical for organisations in critical environments, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors, where downtime can compromise safety, compliance, and production. 

How long does it take to develop a business continuity plan?

The time required to develop a business continuity plan varies. A small business with straightforward operations might draft a plan within a few weeks, while a large, complex organisation may take several months. Key factors include:

• Size of the organisation - more sites, teams, and processes require more planning.
• Vulnerability to disruption - high-risk industries often require more detailed strategies.
• Complexity of processes - interdependent supply chains or global operations demand broader analysis.
• Location and environment - political, geographical, and climate risks influence preparation.

The key is not speed, but thoroughness.

How to develop a business continuity plan

A successful BCP is well thought out, actionable, and tailored to your organisation’s needs. Before drafting, there are a few essential questions to answer.

Before you start

• Who should be involved? Bring in people with knowledge of key functions and risks. In some cases, involve external partners.
• What do I need to include? Cover all essential functions, ensuring none are overlooked.
• What are essential resources? Identify critical systems, materials, and staff that keep your business running.

Steps to take

1. Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) identifies the processes most critical to your organisation and is the foundation of an effective continuity plan.

The BIA should map essential functions and workflows to understand how the organisation operates day to day. It must also evaluate the financial, operational, and reputational impact of potential disruptions, helping to highlight where vulnerabilities lie. Finally, the analysis should establish the maximum tolerable downtime for each process, ensuring decision-makers understand how long the business can operate without a given function before significant damage occurs.

By completing this analysis, organisations can ensure that resources are prioritised effectively and directed where they are needed most.

2. Identify potential risks and threats

Consider internal and external threats, including:

• Natural disasters and extreme weather
• Cyberattacks or data breaches
• Supply chain disruptions
• Utility outages (power, water, connectivity)
• Political, economic, or industry-specific risks

By anticipating risks, organisations can prepare targeted responses.

3. Develop recovery strategies

With risks identified, the next step is to determine how operations will continue during a disruption. This requires developing practical recovery strategies that can be activated quickly and effectively.

One approach is to implement workaround procedures and manual processes to ensure essential functions can still operate if key systems fail. In parallel, organisations should have backup systems for IT and communications to maintain access to critical data and keep teams connected.

If a primary site becomes unavailable, it is also important to plan for alternate work sites or facilities, allowing operations to continue with minimal downtime. Finally, no continuity plan is complete without robust communication strategies — ensuring employees, suppliers, customers, stakeholders, and the wider public receive clear, timely updates during a crisis.

4. Create the Business Continuity Plan document

Bring everything together in a single, accessible document that includes:

• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Escalation and decision-making procedures
• Emergency contact lists
• Plan activation process

5. Train employees and key teams

A business continuity plan is only effective if people know how to use it, which is why training is essential. This should include regular awareness sessions for all employees, onboarding modules for new hires, role-specific training for those with crisis responsibilities, and communication practice for staff in customer- or stakeholder-facing roles.

6. Test, audit, and update the plan

A plan must be living, not static. Organisations should:

• Run simulations and tabletop exercises to stress-test the plan.
• Collect feedback from employees and address weaknesses.
• Continuously update based on organisational or environmental changes.

The importance of facilities management in business continuity

Macro’s current BCP satisfies the requirements of ISO27001. This aligns to ISO 22301, which is an internationally recognised standard that provides a framework for implementing BCM systems.

We create bespoke business continuity plans (BCP) for each client, covering the central support functions. Our BCP are developed by conducting business impact assessments (BIAs) on the specific account services, with the criticality of services as the primary consideration.

The BIAs will inform the solution design, which typically focuses on four key areas:

IT disruption – Macro holds ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification for its key information management systems. Our IT infrastructure allows remote working, and we utilise cloud-based software to minimise disruption.

• Facilities and critical assets – Our plans consider total or partial loss of site(s) and loss of critical assets.
• People – Our people work closely together to share working and knowledge to mitigate temporary or more wide-spread staff absence or disruptions.
• Supply chain – We identify alternative service partners capable of stepping in at short notice and require our service partners to also have continuity plans in place.

Our BCPs contain a crisis management protocol which is enacted following an incident event to effectively manage the response.

All plans undertake regular testing to ensure they remain fit for purpose, and are reviewed/updated annually, as a minimum. Additionally, we also often provide input into our clients’ overall BCP as the FM/building services expert. 

Common mistakes to avoid in business continuity planning

Even strong organisations can make avoidable mistakes when developing their business continuity plans. One of the most common pitfalls is failing to test the plan regularly, leaving gaps undiscovered until a real crisis occurs. Another is overlooking risks within the supply chain, which can create vulnerabilities if critical partners are unprepared.

Other frequent issues include forgetting to update contact details and resource lists or creating an overly complex document that becomes impractical during an emergency. In addition, many businesses neglect to train staff on their specific roles within the plan, which can lead to confusion and delays when a swift response is needed.

Summary: Key takeaways

A business continuity plan ensures operations continue during disruptions.

• It mitigates risk, protects compliance, and builds customer trust.
• The process includes impact analysis, risk identification, recovery strategies, documentation, training, and testing.
• Facilities management is a critical enabler of continuity.
• Avoid common pitfalls such as failing to test or update your plan.

Ready to strengthen your resilience? Contact us