Business Continuity Plan

At the National Gallery, business continuity planning is an integral part of the Risk Management Framework. Business continuity planning ensures the survival and continuance of a business in the event of a business disruption. It minimises financial, legal, reputational and other damaging consequences.

The National Gallery has a strong business continuity management culture underpinned by the Business Continuity Plan.

The purpose of this plan is to describe the arrangements that the National Gallery will use to manage the continuity of its key services before, during and after major, unexpected and disruptive incidents. It describes the management structure, staff roles and responsibilities, and actions that are to be implemented in response to an interruption.

The key objectives of the Business Continuity Plan are:

• To protect the welfare of the National Gallery’s visitors, employees, volunteers and contractors during a major disruptive incident
• To minimise the impact of any disruptive incident on works of art within the Gallery and protect the value of the permanent collection and exhibitions
• To enable the National Gallery’s priority activities to be continued or resumed in timeframes acceptable to the Gallery and its key stakeholders
• To help the National Gallery to continue to meet the expectations of its visitors, employees, volunteers, contractors and other key stakeholders
• To ensure effective stakeholder communications during major disruptive incidents.

The business continuity program includes regular scenario testing to ensure the effectiveness of the Business Continuity Plan. The Plan includes our Emergency Response Plan, Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan, Pandemic Plan and Works of Art Disaster Recovery Plans. The Business Continuity Plan is a living document which is regularly updated to reflect evolving situations and the most comprehensive up-to-date information.