Coronavirus Updates

Crime Prevention advice for empty commercial premises

The Coronavirus has necessitated businesses close across London leaving many empty buildings:

this will likely be the first time your building is going to be empty for an extended period of time.

There is a concern that your property could be at risk of being targeted: this could potentially come

in the form of an illegal occupation, the theft of stock or criminal damage. 

Published on 18 March 2020

Although the magnitude of the economic shock from Covid-19 is highly uncertain, activity is likely to weaken materially in the United Kingdom over the coming months. Temporary, but significant, disruptions to supply chains and weaker activity could challenge cash flows and increase demand for working capital from companies.

The Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF, the Facility) will provide funding to businesses by purchasing commercial paper of up to one-year maturity, issued by firms making a material contribution to the UK economy. It will help businesses across a range of sectors to pay wages and suppliers, even while experiencing severe disruption to cashflows.

The facility will offer financing on terms comparable to those prevailing in markets in the period before the Covid-19 economic shock, and will be open to firms that can demonstrate they were in sound financial health prior to the shock. The facility will look through temporary impacts on firms’ balance sheets and cash flows by basing eligibility on firms’ credit ratings prior to the Covid-19 shock. Businesses do not need to have previously issued commercial paper in order to participate.

The scheme will operate for as long as steps are needed to relieve cash flow pressures on firms that make a material contribution to the UK economy. The Bank will implement the facility on behalf of HM Treasury.

View the full notice online 

BSIA - Business Continuity Plan (BCP): Coronavirus (COVID-19)

With the recent increase in the number of cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) reported, the BSIA has drawn up the following quick reaction plan/business continuity plan in line with the Association’s Business Continuity Requirements. This is in-line with the Association’s BCP and reflects the Good Practice Guidelines from the Business Continuity Institute.

Please note that in light of the UK Government's announcement regarding remote working BSIA staff have been instructed to cancel all face to face meetings and attendance at events and to work and conduct business remotely where possible.

This will come in to effect from Wednesday 18 March until further notice.

How to contact the BSIA during this period

Stage 1

A great deal of the BSIA’s work is around standards development, public relations and membership recruitment and retention which involves a lot of face to face meetings. Staff have been advised that in the course of their work they consider re-evaluating how these meetings are conducted and if alternative methods can be used, such as audio and video conferencing, and to reduce their travel commitments. We also recommend avoiding direct contact (handshaking), whilst taking on board information provided by Public Health England and gov.uk on the correct hygiene procedures. This advice has been circulated to all staff who work in both our offices and remotely.  We have also advised staff, where applicable, to reduce reliance on public transport and avoid meetings in public areas if viable.

At present, all our large-scale commitments in terms of attendance at major events later in the year are currently under review and we will keep our members up to date with this via our social media channels and e-bulletins as the situation evolves. 

In terms of traveling outside of the UK, for business or leisure purposes, we have advised staff that unless absolutely necessary, these trips should be re-arranged. If these trips are not within a tier 1 listed country then the above guidance and government advice should be followed. 

As an Association, we operate on a cloud-based ERP system and we have a robust digital communications system in place. 

Stage 2

In the event of a full pandemic and a UK government announcement regarding a full lockdown, Association staff will be instructed to cancel all face to face meetings and attendance at events and to work and conduct business remotely. This will also include our intelligence-sharing initiative SaferCash and SaferGems. 

The BSIA believes that given its IT cloud-based operating model and the plans in place that in the event of a full pandemic the Association could still operate on a ‘business as usual basis’ and the goal would be to be fully operational using this approach.

As the situation evolves, we will keep our members up to date with regular bulletins if a full pandemic is confirmed.

During a full pandemic, we will communicate what our BCP plan is via email to our members and post a notice on our website with a full list of email and mobile phone contact details for the BSIA team members. 

Mike Reddington
Chief Executive
British Security Industry Association

NHS 111 Online Coronavirus Service

Only use this tool if:

you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home

your condition gets worse

your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

Click the links below for the different regions:

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