Sadly, terrorism is and remains a continued threat. Unfortunately, the UK remains on a severe terror warning meaning that an attack is highly likely.

Recent attacks have seen these not confined only to London, but to other cities such as Manchester and smaller less obvious places such as the attack that occurred in Salisbury. Whist the Salisbury attack was more of a direct and targeted attack the impact that it had on the town and the businesses that operate there was significant.

How can terror attacks impact a business?

Obviously, the cost to human life and wellbeing is of the highest concern when it comes to a terror attack, but the secondary impact can also be detrimental to businesses. Take the attack in Salisbury – streets and areas of the city centre were shut off to the public for many months meaning footfall was minimal, if non-existent, to many of the retail outlets. Add to this the reputational impact and the fact that people were unsure of whether the city itself was safe to visit and you can see how businesses of all sizes can be impacted by such an attack.

Likewise, the BBC reported that following the Manchester attack, retail business noticed a drop in trade in the days after the attack. The tourism industry including hotels were also impacted due to reduced numbers of people coming to the city.

What can your business do to minimise the impact?

Sadly, whilst terrorism remains a threat in the UK, businesses need to be aware that they too could be vulnerable to the impact of an attack.

Ensuring that you have robust disaster recovery plans and business continuity plans in place that cover all of your potential risks and detail how to act if disaster does strike will be vital in enabling you to get your business back up and running as quickly as possible as well as helping to ensure the safety of your staff. These plans will really be beneficial if your business is unfortunate enough to suffer physical damage in the wake of a terrorist attack.

The other elements to the impact of a terror attack are the police cordons, exclusion zones and reluctance of people to travel to an area recently impacted by a terror attack. In this situation business impact is likely going to be centred around reduced footfall and therefore lost revenue, particularly in the retail and hospitality sector.

So what can you do to protect your business? There is a government backed solution designed to cover terrorist attacks, Pool Re. However, this is currently limited to property damaged in an attack. There is no provision for non-damage related business interruption. This is currently under review. It may therefore be necessary to look at specialist insurance to cover these risks, in particular to identify a business interruption insurance policy that meets your needs.