In January 2023 the LockBit ransomware group attacked Royal Mail, disabling the systems used to generate customs documentation for international mail. Export services were suspended for weeks. Small online retailers were the most affected — they had orders taken and paid for, and no way to send them.
The point for small businesses
Business continuity planning usually stops at your own four walls. This is a reminder that a supplier's outage can stop your revenue just as completely, and you get no warning at all.
Sensible preparation
- A second carrier account, even unused. Setting one up takes an afternoon in calm conditions and days in a crisis.
- A holding message ready to go for your website and order confirmations. Customers forgive delays far more readily than silence.
- Know your obligations on delivery times under consumer law if you sell online.
- Track which suppliers you can't operate without and ask what their recovery plans are. The list is usually shorter than people expect: payments, delivery, phones, one or two software products.
We help customers put the IT half of this on paper. The rest is a business conversation worth having before you need it.