Preparing for the Next Crisis: Who Needs to Know Your Business Continuity Plan?

1 May 2026

For business leaders, the outlook has rarely seemed less certain. From rising global economic uncertainty and geopolitical conflict, to the risk of cyberattacks and the worsening odds of natural disaster amid a changing climate, there is no shortage of concerns. That’s why competent businesses always plan ahead.

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Most organisations are well aware of business continuity management (BCM): The crisis response and resilience measures that protect operations, revenues and most importantly, people. However, there is often less onus on maintaining and updating continuity plans in line with domestic and global events, as well as ensuring everyone who needs to know about it, does.

What is a business continuity plan (BCP)?

A BCP is a strategic document that helps an organisation maintain or quickly restore critical operations during disruption. A comprehensive and robust BCP can help organisations respond to, manage and recover quickly from unexpected events.

A business continuity plan should be integrated and communicated across teams to establish clarity on who needs to do what during a crisis.

The essentials of an effective business continuity plan

Companies build their BCPs around three pillars: risk assessment and impact analysis, effective communication and regular testing and exercising.

Pillar 1: Risk assessment and impact analysis	Identify the critical operations that must continue during a crisis. It's also important to define their recovery objectives to establish clear priorities and expectations. Ensure your BCP is flexible enough to adapt to various disruption scenarios.
Pillar 2: Effective communication	Identify both internal and external stakeholders who will actively help steer business operations during a crisis. Document your business continuity strategies and communicate with teams and key stakeholders.
Pillar 3: Regular testing and exercising	Regularly validate the plan through tabletop exercises and walk-throughs (low-stress simulations of emergency scenarios). Conduct tests of specific continuity solutions to validate their effectiveness. Continuously improve the plan using lessons learned from internal incidents and external crisis events.

Gallagher Business Continuity Specialist Mathu Barker advises organisations to keep their continuity strategy simple, succinct and clearly action-oriented.

Why is it important to communicate your business continuity plan?

Within many organisations, a single department or individual may well take the lead in designing a BCP, and/or taking ongoing responsibility for it. But if others remain in the dark about the business's business continuity strategy, this lack of clarity can prolong disruptions during a crisis.

When business continuity management arrangements are communicated in advance, people aren't left scrambling during disruption. Instead, they have clear guidance on what they're going to do and how.

Hugh Morris, head of Strategic Risk Consulting, Gallagher

Who should know your business continuity plan?

Internal stakeholders

All teams and individuals affected by the business continuity plan should understand the overall BCM strategies, including organisational priorities, recovery objectives and escalation procedures, and how they can support continuity and recovery.

Leadership team

The leadership team, responsible for strategic and operational decisions during a crisis, need a clear, high‑level view of the BCP. They should be aware of critical business functions, key risks, recovery objectives and decision‑making protocols to act quickly and effectively.

Employees

Clear communication helps employees stay informed, safe and supportive during disruption. They should understand their roles and responsibilities, know how to follow safety and communication procedures, access critical systems and identify the right contacts for guidance and updates.

External stakeholders

Stakeholders outside the organisation who support or are affected by continuity efforts should receive clear communication about their roles, service expectations, dependencies and shared risks for coordinated responses during a crisis.

Clients and customers

If clients and customers know that the organisation can manage disruption, they will be more confident in their association with the business. A good strategy will provide assurance that you will continue to provide, where possible the goods and/or services you have agreed to.

Vendors and suppliers

To maintain supply chain continuity, it's critical that vendors and suppliers get clarity on the actions businesses will take during unexpected events. It will help vendors to maintain delivery or activate their own contingency plans during disruptions. This is, in fact, very important for protecting the supply chain from a domino effect, particularly in the event of a cyberattack.

Insurers

A well‑documented BCP can also help streamline claims handling and, in some cases, support more favourable insurance terms.

How to effectively communicate your business continuity plan?

Conduct training sessions, workshops and scenario-based test simulations.
Establish dedicated email groups and messaging channels to share information.
Develop a communication hierarchy to ensure messages flow efficiently from leadership to employees.
Tailor your messages based on the stakeholders' roles and responsibilities. Share only the relevant information that directly impacts them.
Use modern technology like mass notification systems to send real-time updates.
Share concise, actionable information while protecting sensitive or confidential data.

Evaluate your business continuity plan with Gallagher

73% of respondents confirmed they had a business continuity plan in place when asked the question during our business continuity webinar 'Facing your future with confidence — planning for the expected'. However, when asked when the plan was last tested or exercised; 13% of respondents stated it's been over 3 years and 23% stated it has never been reviewed.

Plans must be revisited and stress‑tested regularly to ensure they keep pace with today's threats and tomorrow's disruptions. If you want to assess the effectiveness of your plan, we can help.

Reach out to one of Gallagher's dedicated risk advisors to understand how you can respond effectively to the unexpected — and ensure that your staff and other stakeholders are all on the same page too.

Disclaimer

The sole purpose of this article is to provide guidance on the issues covered. This article is not intended to give legal advice, and, accordingly, it should not be relied upon. It should not be regarded as a comprehensive statement of the law and/or market practice in this area. We make no claims as to the completeness or accuracy of the information contained herein or in the links which were live at the date of publication. You should not act upon (or should refrain from acting upon) information in this publication without first seeking specific legal and/or specialist advice. Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited accepts no liability for any inaccuracy, omission or mistake in this publication, nor will we be responsible for any loss which may be suffered as a result of any person relying on the information contained herein.