A practical disaster recovery plan built around cloud backup and 24/7 monitoring, so a server failure, ransomware attack or human error doesn't become a business-ending event.
Your disaster recovery plan is scoped around what your business can actually tolerate losing — in time and in data — not a generic template.
A plan that's never been tested is just a document. We test recovery regularly, so you know it actually works before you ever need it.
Backups and systems are monitored around the clock, so issues are caught long before they become a full-blown disaster.
Disaster recovery covers far more than "we have a backup." A proper disaster recovery plan sets out exactly what happens when something goes wrong — a failed server, a ransomware attack, a flooded office, an accidentally deleted database — and how quickly and completely your business can get back to working. That means defining how much data you can afford to lose (measured in hours since the last backup), how long you can afford to be down before it seriously damages the business, and who does what in the first hour of an incident. Most small businesses that get caught out haven't skipped backup entirely — they've assumed backup and disaster recovery are the same thing, only to discover during a real incident that having a backup file somewhere doesn't mean you can actually restore a working system quickly. A genuine disaster recovery plan also assigns responsibility clearly: who decides the business is officially "in an incident," who contacts customers and suppliers if systems are down, who has the authority to approve emergency spend if new hardware needs buying urgently. Without those decisions made calmly in advance, they end up being made in a panic, by whoever happens to be in the office when things go wrong — rarely the ideal way to handle a crisis.
Backup and disaster recovery uk regulations don't mandate a specific approach, but GDPR does require organisations to be able to restore access to personal data in a timely manner following an incident — which in practice means a tested, working disaster recovery plan, not just a backup job that runs unattended and unverified. For most UK small businesses, that means cloud backup running automatically every day, stored securely off-site so a fire, flood or theft at your premises can't destroy your backups along with your original systems.
Two businesses can both have "backups" and experience wildly different outcomes from the same incident. One restores critical systems within hours because recovery has been planned and tested. The other spends days manually rebuilding servers and rediscovering, incident by incident, what actually needs restoring first — because nobody had written down or tested the process beforehand.
Ransomware specifically targets backups it can find and encrypt alongside your live systems. A disaster recovery plan built for ransomware resilience keeps backups isolated from your main network and versioned, so a clean, unencrypted copy is always available to restore from, whatever's happened to your live systems.
Two numbers sit at the heart of any disaster recovery plan. Recovery point objective is how much data you can afford to lose — if backups run nightly, you could lose up to a day's work in a worst-case scenario. Recovery time objective is how long you can afford to be without a system before it seriously damages the business. Neither number is right or wrong in the abstract; they should reflect what your specific business can genuinely absorb, and they directly determine how backups need to be configured.
A complete plan, not just a backup job running quietly in the background.
We identify your critical systems and data, and agree how much downtime and data loss your business can genuinely tolerate before real damage sets in.
Daily automated backups stored securely off-site, isolated from your live network so ransomware can't reach and encrypt your recovery point.
A clear, documented step-by-step plan covering who does what in the first hour of an incident, and the order systems get restored in.
Scheduled test restores to confirm backups actually work, catching corrupted or incomplete backups long before a real incident exposes them.
Continuous monitoring of backup jobs and core systems, with our support team on hand around the clock if an incident does happen.
A backup that's never been restored is a guess, not a plan. We schedule regular test restores so you know, with confidence, that recovery will work when it matters.
Your disaster recovery plan is written so any member of staff can follow it under pressure, not buried in technical jargon only an IT specialist could interpret during a crisis.
From first conversation to a tested, working disaster recovery plan.
We identify your critical systems and agree realistic recovery time and recovery point objectives for your business.
Automated, isolated cloud backup is configured for every system identified as critical, running on a schedule that matches your risk tolerance.
We write a clear, plain-English recovery plan setting out roles, responsibilities and restoration order for a real incident.
Regular test restores confirm the plan works, backed by 24/7 monitoring so problems are caught before they escalate, and the plan is revisited whenever your systems or headcount change significantly.
We don't treat disaster recovery as a checkbox. Every plan starts with a genuine conversation about what your business can and can't tolerate losing, in both time and data, so the plan actually matches your risk.
Cloud backup is built into every managed IT plan we offer, running automatically and isolated from your live network, so a ransomware attack that reaches your main systems can't also reach and encrypt your recovery point.
We test restores on a regular schedule rather than assuming backups work. That single habit is the biggest difference between businesses that recover in hours and businesses that discover, mid-incident, that their backup was silently failing for months.
Your plan is documented in plain English, so any member of staff — not just your IT specialist — can follow it under pressure during a genuine incident.
24/7 monitoring across our 99% SLA guarantee means most issues are caught and resolved long before they escalate into the kind of event a disaster recovery plan exists to handle.
We also review your plan periodically rather than writing it once and filing it away. As your business adds systems, changes suppliers or grows headcount, what counts as "critical" often changes with it, and a disaster recovery plan that isn't kept up to date can quietly become inaccurate exactly when you need it most.
Disaster recovery starts with reliable, monitored cloud backup — included as standard across every managed IT plan.
Core managed IT with backup and monitoring included
Managed IT with a documented, tested recovery plan
Full disaster recovery planning with strategic oversight
We plan for the incident you hope never happens, so it doesn't become the incident that ends the business.
Backups are kept isolated from your live network, so ransomware that reaches your main systems can't also destroy your recovery point.
We actually test recovery on a schedule, catching silent backup failures long before you'd ever need to rely on them.
Backup jobs and core systems are watched around the clock, with issues flagged long before they become an outage.
Your recovery plan is written so any member of staff can follow it under pressure, not locked away in technical jargon.
Backed by a real service level commitment, not a vague promise, across every managed plan.
Endpoint detection and response is built into every plan, reducing the chance ransomware reaches your systems in the first place.
For businesses that want board-level strategic oversight of risk and recovery planning, our virtual CIO service can be added to your plan.
We'll tell you plainly where your biggest exposure actually is, rather than upselling protection you don't need.
Cloud backup and disaster recovery planning are included in a straightforward per-user monthly fee, with no hidden extras.
We deliver backup and disaster recovery uk-wide, remotely by default with on-site support coordinated wherever needed, from London and the South East through to Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and beyond. A retailer's disaster recovery priorities — till systems, stock databases — look very different from a professional services firm's, where email, document storage and client records tend to matter most. Wherever you're based and whatever sector you're in, we build a disaster recovery plan around what your specific business genuinely can't afford to lose.
Ask when backups were last actually tested by restoring a real file or system, not just when the backup job last "completed successfully" according to a dashboard. Those are very different questions, and only one of them tells you whether recovery will genuinely work.
Recovery time matters: ask how long a full restore would realistically take for your most critical system. If nobody can answer that with confidence, there isn't really a disaster recovery plan yet — just a backup and a hope.
Getting started: we offer a free consultation to review your current backup setup and identify gaps before they become a real incident.
The cost of not planning: the expense of a disaster recovery plan is easy to see up front, in monthly fees. The cost of not having one only becomes visible during an actual incident, by which point it's measured in lost trading days, lost customer trust and, in the worst cases, in permanent data that can never be recovered. Most small businesses that have been through an uninsured, unplanned outage describe the plan they wish they'd had — not the backup fee they were trying to avoid.
Included from
Cloud backup and 24/7 monitoring included in every managed IT plan, with documented and tested disaster recovery on Assurance and Ultimate.
disaster recovery plan
A documented, tested plan covering backup, recovery time objectives and step-by-step restoration for UK small businesses.
backup and disaster recovery uk
Automated, isolated cloud backup with 24/7 monitoring, forming the foundation every disaster recovery plan is built on.
Got questions about disaster recovery planning? We've answered the most common ones below. If you need more detail, get in touch.
Backup is a copy of your data. Disaster recovery is the full plan for restoring your systems and getting the business working again — including recovery time, restoration order and who's responsible for each step. You can have a backup without a disaster recovery plan, but not the reverse.
Cloud backup and monitoring are included from £20 per user per month on our Essentials plan, with documented and regularly tested disaster recovery planning included from £40 per user per month on Assurance.
It depends on your recovery plan and how isolated your backups are. With isolated, tested cloud backup, most small businesses can restore critical systems within hours rather than days, because a clean, unencrypted backup is always available.
GDPR requires organisations to be able to restore access to personal data in a timely manner following an incident, which in practice means having a tested plan, not just a backup file sitting untested and unverified.
We recommend scheduled test restores at least quarterly for critical systems, with more frequent checks for businesses handling sensitive data or operating in regulated sectors.
Yes, we can audit your existing backup setup, test it properly, and build a documented recovery plan around it, rather than necessarily replacing what's already working.
Anything that stops your business operating normally — a hardware failure, ransomware, accidental deletion, a fire or flood at your premises, or even a member of staff making a serious configuration error. A good plan covers the common scenarios, not just the dramatic ones.
Cyber insurers increasingly ask about backup and recovery capability as part of underwriting. A tested, documented disaster recovery plan can support your application and may help demonstrate the resilience insurers look for, though specific policy requirements vary by insurer.
Limited time offer — valid until 31/05/2026
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