London firms unprepared for terror attacks

London firms appear under-prepared for a terrorist attack, despite the threat of terrorist activity remaining high, warned Marsh.

In a survey conducted at a Marsh seminar on terrorism, over one third of delegates from mid-sized and large firms in the Greater London area stated that they did not have emergency response, crisis management and business recovery plans integrated within their business continuity management (BCM) framework or risk management strategy.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Antony Ketteridge, a business risk Consultant at Marsh, said: ‘We urge all London businesses to review their BCM plans and processes to ensure they are equipped to respond to a terrorist incident. While there is little businesses can do to prevent a terrorist attack, much can be done to mitigate its impact by forming robust BCM plans, running exercises to rehearse their effectiveness, and managing the risk in their supply chain, or understanding the insurance implications.’