{"id":4211,"date":"2025-05-14T10:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T10:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/?p=4211"},"modified":"2025-05-14T10:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T10:03:25","slug":"running-your-business-through-outages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Tips for Running Your Business Through Outages"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_72 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/#Gas_Outages\" title=\"Gas Outages\">Gas Outages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/#Electricity_Outages\" title=\"Electricity Outages\">Electricity Outages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/#Water_Outages\" title=\"Water Outages\">Water Outages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/#Internet_Outages\" title=\"Internet Outages\">Internet Outages<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/running-your-business-through-outages\/#Its_always_best_to_plan_ahead\" title=\"It\u2019s always best to plan ahead\">It\u2019s always best to plan ahead<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>We have all seen the news about a full power outage in large parts of Spain and Portugal, which shuttered many businesses for a day.<\/p>\n<p>This may leave some people wondering what to do should a similar situation occur in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>Here, we outline the rules, potential contingencies, regulatory considerations, and practical workarounds for various types of outages.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gas_Outages\"><\/span>Gas Outages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Gas outages primarily affect heating, cooking, and industrial processes.<\/p>\n<p>There will be some businesses, like restaurants and hotels, that will not be able to properly operate without gas heating.<\/p>\n<p>Some shops and retail operations may be able to operate, but it\u2019s important to ensure that staff are properly taken care of if it&#8217;s cold.<\/p>\n<p>In the UK, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/hydrogen-blending-into-gb-gas-distribution-networks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gas distribution networks<\/a> are required to promptly inform customers and provide regular updates. Regulatory bodies such as Ofgem oversee gas distribution standards and outage response.<\/p>\n<p>As a general rule of thumb, businesses should have alternative heating solutions such as electric portable heaters.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Electricity_Outages\"><\/span>Electricity Outages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Electricity outages can disrupt virtually every aspect of your business, from communications to payments.<\/p>\n<p>As has been seen with the outage in Spain, it is more or less impossible to effectively run a small business through a full electricity outage.<\/p>\n<p>Larger businesses like hospitals and care facilities have backup generators when power continuity is critical to their operations.<\/p>\n<p>For smaller businesses, while you may struggle to operate in an outage, it is worth having an emergency communications plan to inform customers and stakeholders promptly.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Water_Outages\"><\/span>Water Outages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4213 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Water-Outages.jpg\" alt=\"Water Outages\" width=\"1005\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Water-Outages.jpg 1005w, https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Water-Outages-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Water-Outages-768x431.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1005px) 100vw, 1005px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Lack of water can significantly impact hygiene, safety, and operational processes.<\/p>\n<p>Businesses typically cannot operate legally without running water, particularly in sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, and food production.<\/p>\n<p>There are some suppliers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.castlewater.co.uk\/business-water-help\/emergency-business-water-supply\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who provide contingency plans<\/a>, which can include a supply of bottled water for drinking and basic hygiene purposes.<\/p>\n<p>You can also look to arrange for water tank deliveries if running water is essential to your business operations.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of smaller-scale outages, the best way around it is to take preventive measures. Regularly check plumbing systems for leaks or vulnerabilities to prevent sudden issues.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Internet_Outages\"><\/span>Internet Outages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With increasing reliance on internet connectivity, an outage can severely disrupt communications, and in an increasingly online world, it could also hinder payment processing.<\/p>\n<p>Although there is no specific regulatory requirement for continuous internet access, maintaining connectivity is essential for business services.<\/p>\n<p>And for offices, with no internet, continued operation is virtually impossible.<\/p>\n<p>A way around this is maintaining hybrid models, allowing workers to head home and work remotely if there is an outage.<\/p>\n<p>You could also look into a secondary <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Internet_access\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">internet connection<\/a> from a different provider or equipping staff with mobile broadband devices or ensuring they can tether to mobile networks.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Its_always_best_to_plan_ahead\"><\/span>It\u2019s always best to plan ahead<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>By proactively addressing these contingencies and regulatory requirements, your business can remain resilient and minimise disruption during outages.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully this helps you think ahead and put in the contingencies needed for your business specifically. As ever, it\u2019s best to plan ahead rather than play catch up when things go wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have all seen the news about a full power outage in large parts of Spain and Portugal, which shuttered many businesses for a day. This may leave some people wondering what to do should a similar situation occur in the UK. Here, we outline the rules, potential contingencies, regulatory considerations, and practical workarounds for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[578,580,579,368],"class_list":["post-4211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","tag-business-continuity","tag-disaster-recovery","tag-outage-management","tag-remote-work"],"modified_by":"admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4211"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4221,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211\/revisions\/4221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallbusinessblog.co.uk\/business-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}