Business Continuity Policy Template
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Policy Template (UK)
Approx. 6 pages · 14 sectionsBranded PDF + editable WordLast reviewed:
What is a business continuity & disaster recovery policy and who needs one?
A business continuity policy commits your organisation to keeping critical services running through disruption such as IT failure, loss of premises, supplier failure or staff shortages. It sets roles, recovery priorities and testing. Buyers of ongoing services ask for it to be confident you can keep delivering their contract.
Sets out how you identify critical activities, assess risks and plan to maintain or restore services during incidents. Can be aligned with ISO 22301 principles.
Why buyers ask for this
Public services cannot stop because a supplier has a problem, so buyers commonly ask how you would keep their contract running through incidents such as IT failure, staff shortages or severe weather.
Who needs it
Suppliers delivering ongoing services where buyers need assurance of continuity during disruption.
Where it comes up in a PQQ, SQ or PSQ
Under the Procurement Act 2023, supplier selection uses the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) plus each buyer's own conditions of participation and quality questions. Typical questions this policy supports:
- "Provide your business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements"
- "When did you last test your business continuity plan and what did you learn?"
- Questions on recovery time for critical systems and data backups
- – Commonly requested for service contracts
- – Buyers may ask for testing frequency
What's inside
The full business continuity & disaster recovery policy runs to about 6 pages (including the branded cover and document control page) across 14 sections:
- Purpose
- Scope
- Roles & Responsibilities
- Business Impact Analysis & Risk Assessment
- Continuity Strategies
- Disaster Recovery for ICT Systems
- Incident Response & Activation of the BCP
- Communication & Stakeholder Management
- Recovery & Restoration
- Training, Awareness & Testing
- Documentation & Integration
- Post-Incident Review
- Non-Compliance
- Review
Key points covered
- Scope and objectives
- Critical activities and recovery time objectives
- Risk assessment
- Incident response and escalation
- Communication
- Testing and exercising
- Review
Every document carries your logo, company name, version number, approval signatory and next review date, in branded PDF plus editable Word.
UK legislation, standards and guidance it references
- Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (context for public bodies)
- ISO 22301 (voluntary standard)
Excerpt preview
[Your Company Ltd] (“the Company”) recognises the need to maintain critical services to clients even in the event of disruption. The purpose of this Policy is to: This Policy applies to: It applies to all staff, contractors and partners whose roles are critical to service delivery.
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£19.99 per policy, or £199 for all 39 policies. One-off payment.
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How to adapt it
- Read every section and remove anything that doesn’t reflect how your organisation actually works.
- Complete the bracketed [ADAPT] prompts with your own arrangements, people and data.
- Have the policy approved and signed by a director or equivalent, and communicate it to staff.
- Keep evidence that you follow it, and review it by the date shown.
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Policy FAQs
Is a policy the same as a business continuity plan?
No. The policy sets the framework; the plan contains the detailed procedures, contacts and recovery steps.
What is the difference between RTO and RPO?
Recovery time objective (RTO) is how quickly a service must be restored; recovery point objective (RPO) is how much data loss, measured in time, is acceptable. The policy asks you to set both for critical activities.
How often should a business continuity plan be tested?
At least annually is common good practice, and after significant changes. A desktop exercise talking through a realistic scenario is a proportionate test for most SMEs, and gives you evidence for tender answers.
How much does the Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Policy template cost?
£19.99 per policy, or £199 for all 39 policies. It is a one-off payment with no subscription, and you download branded PDF and editable Word files straight away.
Free guides
- Tender policy checklist for UK public-sector bids
- Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) explained for suppliers
General information, not legal advice. Requirements differ between buyers and change over time; always check the tender documents.