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Government puts London businesses on High Security Alert
The Government has put London businesses on high security alert as a result of the recent war in Iraq. Government departments and London departments and London agencies acted promptly to protect people and business against possible reprisal attacks in the capital.
Meanwhile, business people were warned not to travel to a number of countries and to take extra precautions on foreign visits.
The Government warning about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks throughout the world, during military action in Iraq, was issued before military started. A spokesman said “The risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks in public places, including tourist sites, will be especially high during military action in Iraq. You should be vigilant, take sensible precautions, be aware of local sensibilities, monitor the media, and check the Foreign Office’s Travel Advice for the country you plan to visit.”
The Metropolitan Police has also increased security measures on precautionary basis.
Meanwhile, London Chamber has been working to help businesses ensure that they can continue should they be the victims of a terrorist attack. Research carried out in this area revealed that a worryingly low level of business has contingency plans. Only 17 per cent of businesses at the SME level and one in five larger businesses have any contingency or security plans in place – barely 10 per cent of those have tested them or trained their staff to use them.
However, 80 per cent of large businesses in London have back up plans in place that would help them survive if they, or London, were subject to a terrorist attack, according to the survey undertaken by London Chamber.
More than 4,000 businesses in London were asked about their contingency plans should their company experience a fire, suspected explosive device, a chemical or biological incident or need to evacuate into a safe area.
Although the results show that a high percentage of major businesses have woken up to need for contingency planning, they also illustrated the gap between developing plans and testing them to confirm they are workable. Even those with plans in place were lagging behind in training their staff.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, the Chamber’s Chief Executive, Colin Stanbridge, said: “London is the engine room of the UK economy. If it were to be the victim of catastrophic attack, it is vital for the wellbeing of our economy as a whole that businesses have put in place measures to make sure that they can survive and continue to operate as effectively as possible.
“ We are carrying out this work to make sure that the business community does what it can to help itself. We hope that by raising awareness and disseminating best practice, we can help businesses be as well prepared as possible.”
The threat
of war has already added to the underlying uncertainties in the economy,
with manufacturing sector in London already in recession and others, while
not yet reccessionary, in decline.
London Chamber of Commerce April 2003
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