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What Is a Business Continuity Policy?
A Business Continuity Policy is a high-level document that defines an organisation’s commitment to maintaining operational resilience and continuity during disruptions. Unlike a business continuity plan, which describes step-by-step procedures, the policy sets the standards, objectives, scope, and governance for business continuity management.
Why Should Organisations Consider a Business Continuity Policy?
- According to the Allianz Insurance 2025 UK Risk Barometer, “Business interruption (including supply-chain disruption)” remains the #2 top risk facing UK businesses.
- The UK government’s National Risk Register 2025 highlights that organisational resilience requires the integration of business-continuity capability (including policy, planning, response and recovery) across functions.
- A survey from Databarracks found that only 54% of UK organisations are confident their continuity plans are up-to-date, signalling that roughly half may lack a current and effective policy or equivalent commitment.
What Is the Purpose of a Business Continuity Policy?
By establishing clear expectations and responsibilities at a strategic level, the policy helps everyone, from senior leaders to frontline staff, understand the need to maintain essential services even when the business faces crises such as cyber attacks, natural disasters, or supply chain breakdowns.
Having a Business Continuity Policy means an organisation has committed to resilience, regulatory compliance, and safeguarding stakeholder trust.
This proactive approach helps to minimise financial losses, supports rapid recovery, and can even provide a competitive edge when other organisations are unprepared for the risks of today’s complex business environment.
What Does a Business Continuity Policy Typically Include?
Key elements commonly include:
- Purpose and scope: A clear statement of the organisation’s aims for business continuity and the scope of activities, functions, and services it applies to.
- Governance responsibilities: Identification of roles and responsibilities for business continuity, including top management’s accountability for oversight and direction.
- Commitment to compliance: A statement that may reference the organisation’s intention to meet applicable statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements, and where applicable, alignment with standards such as ISO 22301.
- Principles and objectives: High-level guiding principles and objectives relating to continuity planning and response.
- Review and continual improvement: Requirements for the policy to be periodically reviewed and maintained to ensure it remains appropriate to the organisation’s context, including changes in risk, business operations, or external requirements.
Download our business continuity policy templateDownload a free Business Continuity Policy template to help you understand the typical structure and content organisations use when documenting their approach to business continuity.  |
How Do the Business Continuity Policy, Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan Interact to Support Organisational Resilience?
The Business Continuity Policy sets the high-level commitment and guidelines for the creation of the detailed Business Continuity Plan (BCP), which focuses on maintaining core functions during a crisis, while the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP), a key part of the BCP, specifically details restoring IT systems and data after an incident, together forming a layered approach to Organisational Resilience, ensuring survival, adaptation, and swift return to business as usual by addressing people, processes, and technology.
See our Business Continuity Plan & Disaster Recovery Plan templates:
|
Policy / Plan |
Purpose |
Scope |
Ownership |
Key Contents |
Relationship to Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Business Continuity Policy |
Sets strategic direction and expectations for resilience |
Organisation-wide |
Senior leadership |
Commitment, objectives, governance |
Provides guidelines for plans; top-level guidance |
|
Business Continuity Plan (BCP) |
Details operational procedures during disruption |
All critical services |
Operational managers |
Procedures, contacts, service levels |
Executes commitments in Policy; aligns with Disaster Recovery |
|
Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) |
Restores IT and data systems after incidents |
Technology & data |
IT/Technical teams |
Recovery strategies, system priorities |
Supports Business Continuity Plan; technical focus within overall continuity effort |
How Do the Business Continuity Policy and ISO 22301 Interact?
Clause 5.2 of ISO 22301 requires organisations to create, implement, and communicate a formal Business Continuity Policy as part of their business continuity management system. This clause mandates that the policy:
- Expresses leadership’s commitment to business continuity, ensuring senior management sets the tone for resilience and preparedness across the organisation.
- Provides guidelines for establishing continuity objectives that align with strategic and operational goals.
- Supports the assignment of roles and responsibilities by setting expectations for business continuity across the organisation.
- Outlines the intent to meet legal, regulatory, and stakeholder requirements relevant to continuity management.
- Includes a commitment to continual improvement by mandating regular reviews and updates based on lessons learned, changing risks, and evolving business needs.
Clause 5.2 is a crucial building block for ISO 22301 certification – it shows your organisation’s management is serious about resilience and is driving business continuity from the top down.
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