Do not let blackouts cause a business black spot

How prepared is your business for winter? We are not just talking here about clearing the gutters, checking the roof, or ensuring you are not one of the UK businesses that collectively lose £1 billion to snow and ice-related events each year. All of those actions are important, though.

Nor are we referencing the requirement to ensure security cameras are working, to control theft risks on dark winter nights. We are not even pointing to the ever-present requirement to check pipework is insulated and background heating kept on to safeguard against burst pipes, which should have received a pre-winter plumbing check.

Instead, we are focusing on the black spot that can relate to blackouts.

We have seen high-profile instances of the impacts of blackouts this year. In March, Heathrow Airport shut down for about 16 hours after a catastrophic equipment failure sparked a fire that triggered a power outage. In April, the Iberian Peninsula was the location of Europe’s biggest blackout for over 20 years. It proved that no electricity grid is infallible.

In August 2019, Britain experienced its biggest blackout in a decade, when one million people in England and Wales lost power. Fast-forward to the impact of Storm Darragh in December 2024, and the “biggest restoration effort ever” was required on the National Grid network.

Some blackouts can be very localised. A sudden power outage hit Lowestoft in June 2024, leaving restaurants, shops and businesses in a 40-hour blackout.

In a time of climate change, when we have already seen violent storms hit the UK this season, no business can be sure it will not suffer downtime. Such an eventuality can damage reputation, erode customer trust and lead to a distressing loss of income and output.

It could also involve losses emanating from spoiled goods or refrigerated stock, whether that is in a grocery store or supermarket, restaurant, pub or distribution centre.

Electricity outages can result in corrupted data, problems with elevators, lighting systems, and heating and ventilation. Workers and employees may struggle to exit a building left with no lighting. In other words, unsafe workplace conditions can arise during blackouts.

One answer is to consider emergency power generation if your business could be left particularly vulnerable. The risk of losing power is not necessarily solely due to poor weather or a localised network issue. System overload could also potentially occur. A blackout ‘near miss’ is said to have taken place on January 8 2025, when the National Energy System Operator was forced to issue an Electricity Margin Notice. This indicates the spare capacity within the grid did not cover the contingency deemed necessary.

The other thing to do, as a business, is review your emergency, continuity and resilience plans and see how power outages are covered by those. How will the critical plant continue to operate? What maintenance checks might be required if a power outage occurs and the plant has to be restarted? Which equipment will be most affected? How would you communicate with shift workers to prevent them from coming to the site if power is lost? Would internal communications systems go down, causing an on-site issue?

Everyone’s role in the event of a power outage needs to be detailed in the planning documents and risk assessment, with training provided to back up the documentation. If an emergency generator is deployed, employees will require training in how to use it. If it is a case of turning to alternative heating sources to keep the workplace operational, consideration must be given to the combustibility of materials near temporary heaters and the fire hazards they may create.

Ask yourself, ‘how would we operate’ if a power failure occurred and devise workable solutions, if possible, before that happens. It’s also well worth checking your insurance policy’s small print and assessing under what circumstances, if any, your business interruption policy would cover you for losses incurred during a power outage. This is something you should discuss with us, particularly if a power outage would be highly detrimental to your business or manufacturing operation. Back this with the right business continuity planning, and hopefully, any winter blackouts will not leave you fumbling around, seeking a way forward.