Extremes in weather can affect many aspects of the operation of a business from staff and customers being able to travel, damage to premises (such as from flooding) or a failure of utility supply.
Whilst many of the events to date have been flood related we may see more of these events and a wider variety of impacts as our climate changes:
- Heavy and prolonged rainfall events in South Yorkshire during June 2007 had a devastating impact on homes and businesses in Sheffield, with 1000 businesses affected including landmark buildings such as Meadowhall Shopping Centre and Hillsborough Football Stadium.
- Businesses directly impacted by the 2007 floods took an average of 26 weeks to return to normal operating capacity. Some small businesses can take up to two years to recover from a flood – and some do not survive.
- After the flooding in June and July 2007, insurers received 165,000 claims in the UK, estimated to total £3bn in insured damages. But the economic and social costs were far higher, as not all costs to businesses can be insured.
- Based on a 2006 survey, 90% of SMEs are underinsured against flooding, and 70% of those in high risk areas were “not concerned”.
- During the heavy snowfall over the 2009/10 winter a retail park in York was closed for a day due to snow as a precautionary measure for the safety of customers and staff.
- After 2 relatively dry years Yorkshire entered drought status in March 2012 with businesses and farmers being advised to use water wisely.
- Calder Valley was hit by a series of flash floods during June and July in 2012 with a month’s worth of rain falling in a few hours. A survey carried out by Calderdale Council four months after the flood found that out of the 123 organisations surveyed 23 were still not open for business.