Help your clients become more resilient with Horizonscan

Authored by Aviva

It’s no secret that the events of the last few years have had a monumental impact on UK businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic, impact of Brexit, the Ukraine war and ongoing economic uncertainty are just some of the high-profile factors that have meant that ‘resilience’ has become a key word in the vocabulary of many business owners and leaders.

Business resilience is the ability of a company to quickly adapt its processes during a time of disruption to continue business, as well as look after staff, customer, assets and the overall reputation of the business. To support commercial customers to manage their own business resilience we work closely with Horizonscan, as one of our recognised Risk Management Specialist Partners, providing solutions to Aviva customers at preferential rates.

Horizonscan has a team of Business Continuity, Resilience and Crisis Management experts and practitioners. They focus on building long-term partnerships with businesses to increase their ability to deal with disruptive events. Their consultants and associates bring real-world experience ranging from careers in emergency services to corporate security management and their team hold certifications with the BCI and DRI and as an organisation they hold Cyber Essentials and ISO22301.

Will Scobie, Managing Director at Horizonscan, has a wealth of experience in helping support businesses across a wide range of industries. We spoke to him about the service Horizonscan provide to their customers.

“We're an employee-owned business which gives us more freedom and flexibility to tailor our services to meet the needs of our clients. It also ensures our consultants bring the pride and motivation of business ownership. Our team is committed to making sure every engagement is successful and mutually beneficial.

Our mission is to help make organisations more resilient and all our client work is set up to be sustainable with a focus on developing long-term relationships with our clients.

As a specialist partner of Aviva, we understand where our services and expertise can help a growing business with its business continuity needs. Working with companies who have just started their journey in resiliency enables us to understand what they need and when.

For example, when we talk about a Business Continuity Plan, that includes all aspects of resilience, a fully detailed Risk Register, a Business Impact Analysis and an invoking procedure in the form of a crisis management plan, a disaster recovery or a cyber plan. In addition, it can include testing of the plans and training. This work can be a lot for a business to take on alongside the running of the business, which is where our expertise and guidance can be vital.”

The key services provided by Horizonscan include:

• Building Business Continuity Plans - a detailed plan that identifies potential risks, assesses the impact of those risks and outlines strategies and procedures to help a business maintain critical functions during a disruption.
• Crisis Simulation Exercises - a customised simulation of a potential crisis scenario to test an organisation's preparedness and response capabilities.
• Building Crisis Management Plans - a documented plan that outlines the procedures and protocols for managing and responding to a crisis.
• Conducting Business Impact Analysis - an assessment of the potential impact of various risks on a business and its critical functions.
• Creation of Risk Register - a record of identified risks, their potential impact and the strategies and measures put in place to mitigate them.
• Readiness Assessments - a comprehensive evaluation of a business's preparedness to respond to a crisis or disaster.
• Tabletop Exercises - a simulation of a crisis scenario where key stakeholders meet to discuss potential responses, identify gaps in the response plan, and identify areas for improvement.
• Crisis Communication Training - a training program designed to teach organisations how to communicate effectively during a crisis, including messaging, media relations and stakeholder communication.
• Resilience Training - a training program designed to teach organisations how to build and maintain resilience in the face of potential risks and disruptions.
• Support with Supply Chain Management an approach to managing and mitigating risks related to a company's supply chain, including identifying and evaluating suppliers, ensuring continuity of supply and developing contingency plans.

For more information about how Horizonscan can support your commercial clients visit our Aviva Risk Management Solutions website HERE