Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become more aware of the risk of not having adequate risk management structures, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

This has been driven by the recent spate of natural disasters as many small firms have realised that they do not have adequate disaster recovery plans.

According to FSB spokesman Simon Briault, the impact of this summer's flooding and the outbreaks of blue-tongue disease and foot and mouth have "brought these issues into the open and made them more of a concern for small businesses".

He added that small firms are "starting to realise" the potential damage their business could suffer if they do not prepare for the worst.

"There's more awareness now than ever before about the need to make sure that you've got continuity plans and that you can survive if there's a flood or a fire or whatever," Mr Briault said.

In terms of IT support, firms could investigate the benefits of outsourcing the administration of their systems to a professional IT management firm.

But simply upgrading systems to boost the stability of the network, or investing in a back-up power supply could help ensure that work can continue in spite of the surrounding circumstances.