Staying open for business

If you run a small business, you may face the decision as to whether to continue trading during a power cut. To help you make this decision, this information outlines some of the key issues you may need to consider if your electricity supply is interrupted.

Sales equipment

Many mains-operated cash registers, electronic scales and other types of equipment have a memory to store sales and date/time information. Most of these have memory-protect batteries so that, if the electricity does go off, the information is preserved.

For a planned power cut, it's best to unplug sales equipment beforehand. If your electricity goes off unexpectedly, switch off your systems and unplug them straight away.

Consult your supplier to find out how EPOS or other computer-based retail systems may be affected by a power cut. Many of these allow you to back up sales data or do this automatically.

Goods and passenger lifts

Most conventional lifts with electrically-operated motors will stop where they are if the electricity goes off. If you know the power cut is going to happen, send the lift to the ground floor and make sure that both your customers and staff know not to use it.

There should be someone on your site trained to manually operate this type of lift if the electricity goes off unexpectedly.

Some of the more modern, hydraulic lifts will return to the lowest floor automatically if there is a power cut. Check with the installer for details of how your own lift operates, so you'll know what to do if there is a power cut.

Using Generators

If we have to switch off your electricity, we try to make sure the interruption is as short as possible. We are also fully committed to giving you accurate information about how long we expect the power cut to last.

However, in some cases, you may not be able to manage without electricity and may wish to hire a portable generator as an alternative form of supply.

If you decide to do this, you must make sure the generator is connected properly by a qualified electrician.

You must also let us know about it so that both our staff and your staff can work safely. You can do this by contacting us on our advice line.

Insurance

For planned work, we'll let you know in advance about the power cut so that you can prepare or make alternative arrangements.

Unfortunately, we have no control over unplanned power cuts. Many insurance policies class these as Acts of God. Check your own policy to see if you're covered for loss resulting from an unplanned power cut.