Businesses have been operating within a very uncertain climate ever since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic but now their stresses have been compounded by the war in Ukraine.

According to a report in CityAM the majority of investors managing around $1trn in assets are expecting an equity bear market this year and are slashing their exposure in response.

Risk management and building resilience:

Dr Gianluca Pescaroli is a global expert in risk management, and more specifically in how businesses and other organisations can best plan for, and cope with, the impact of a crisis.

He says: "You need to have a very, very clear idea of your critical processes and services. These are essential, independent of whether it is a pandemic, or Ukraine, or climate change. The better you prepare, the better you adapt and react."

The little things are important:

While pricing and supply issues need to be addressed you should also have a checklist of vulnerabilities for everything needed to keep...

Materials, parts, products; they have all been subject to delays and shortages over the last year thanks to a combination of factors from a shortage of lorry drivers to the effects of pandemic lockdowns.

It has all made running a business more stressful and expensive.

Is it time to rethink your supply chain?

Many businesses switched to buying from suppliers further afield because of the financial savings this brought them, but perhaps given the more recent difficulties it might be worth looking for sources closer to home.

It may end up costing a little more but if it improves your business’ continuity it may be worth it.

Reshoring is also becoming increasingly important for improving UK manufacturing resilience and ensuring that its manufacturing supply chains are fit for an uncertain future.

Perhaps you need a back-up plan?

It is also worth looking around for alternative suppliers and using more than one, again to ensure the continuity of your own business operations.

Giving...

The words “new normal” have become something of a cliché in predictions for a post pandemic world but there is little doubt that global sea freight transport is likely to be very different for some years to come.

Even before countries started closing their borders and taking other measures to protect citizens from Coronavirus the sea freight industry was facing pressures.

Much of the pressure relates to concern by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) about the industry’s impact on the environment and specifically its use of sulphur oxides which is harmful and is considered to be the cause many premature deaths.

From January 2020 the IMO had imposed new emissions standards designed to significantly curb pollution produced by the world’s ships which will be no small feat given estimates that more than 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea.

To achieve this target, it proposed to ban shipping vessels using fuel with a sulphur content...