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Recent natural disasters have made small and medium-sized businesses more aware than ever of the need for effective business continuity plans, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has said.

Commenting on the effects of the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth and blue tongue disease, the FSB's Simon Briault said that the need for disaster recovery plans was more obvious to small businesses than ever before.

"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", stated Mr Briault.

Many businesses were severely affected by last summer's flooding, and suffered due to a lack of continuity planning. Recent foot and mouth outbreaks meanwhile forced many businesses surrounding the affected areas to close.

The FSB estimates that nearly one in five businesses suffer a major disruption every year.