Bracknell

Businesses across Bracknell & Berkshire are being invited to take part in an exercise to help them prepare and consider their contingency plans should they be left without key utilities and services like electricity, telephones and water.

Exercise Bright Star is being held at Bracknell Leisure Centre on Wednesday, September 20. It has been organised by the Berkshire Regional Continuity Forum and co-ordinated by Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

It aims to ensure local businesses are prepared for the effect of the loss of utilities and highlights the importance of co-operation between organisations who respond to emergencies including utility and service providers; councils, emergency services and the NHS; and the wider business community.

Businesses including Hewlett Packard, IBM, Yell and the AA have already signed up, but organisers are keen for more local small businesses to take part.

Louise Osborn, Bracknell Forest Borough Council’s Emergency Planning Manager, said: The scenario will be linked to adverse weather conditions like flooding or heavy snow. Just think about how the country is affected when we have a thin blanket of light snow and imagine what the impact of three days of heavy snow could be to your business.

”We want to encourage companies to consider the implications if utilities are compromised and staff cannot get to work; and work together to find solutions to enable them to keep their business running.”

Cllr Peter North, Executive Member for Bracknell Public Protection and Services, said: Exercise Bright Star is a practical business exercise and networking opportunity to understand the potential impact of losing key utility supplies and how to prepare if it ever happened.

”If you do not have a business continuity plan, ask yourself what you would do if this happened to you. If you do not have an answer, come along and learn from those who do.

"No one in business should underestimate the impact that power and water play or the impact of losing them, even for a while. If you haven't been to one of these exercises, I would urge you to attend.”

The aim of the Berkshire Regional Continuity Forum is to encourage businesses in the community to work together, allowing them to share expertise and knowledge and developing shared resilience to disasters in the event of a major emergency affecting Berkshire.

Backed by the Emergency Planning Society and the Business Continuity Institute, the Bracknell forum also provides members with an arena in which to develop professional and personal skills in continuity management.

Membership to the forum is free and open to any businesses in Berkshire. For more information about the forum or Exercise Bright Star, email emergency.planning@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Bracknell Forest Borough Counci