From hiring a road gritter to inspecting your boiler: How to prepare your business for winter

So, how can this extreme weather affect your business? You might be thinking that there’s no need to prepare, especially if you’re situated somewhere with little to no flood risk or weather warnings. However, the impact of a storm, flood or even a few heavy snow days can have a huge affect on your business, especially if it’s on the smaller side. Loss of sales, reduced employee turnout and potential damage to your premises can all cost valuable time and money, so it’s important to be prepared. With this in mind, see our guide below and find out how you can prepare your business for the cold months ahead. 

Statistics show that 43% of small businesses don’t have a business continuity, disaster recovery or crisis management plan in place. For many of these companies, they might simply not have needed one, but failure to plan can be disastrous if you do encounter an emergency. Sit down with staff and put together a backup plan for what to do if extreme weather hits and think of ways to prepare.

This could cover anything from travel arrangements, to provisions for working at home and what your policy is if the weather is worsening throughout the day. All employees should be clear about your adverse weather policy and have access to any equipment they might need to work effectively at home. In some cases, the weather might be very short notice and it simply won’t be possible for people to prepare in time or gather the equipment they need. In this case, it should be clear about how employees will be paid; will it have to be marked down as a sick day, holiday, or will you have other measures to ensure people don’t lose out on wages? 

Icy roads and paths covered in snow can pose a significant risk to your customers and employees, and the last thing you want is somebody slipping at the entrance or losing control of their car. A gritting lorry is most people’s tool of choice if you need emergency gritting services and these can be hired as and when you need.

A company such as GMCB Ltd offers commercial gritting services for businesses across central Scotland, to help them prepare for the harsh winter weather. Road gritting companies offer a range of services, including preventative gritting, salt supply, gritting vehicles for hire, car park gritting and more. Many are also available for emergency gritting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so don’t hesitate to act if you suspect that ice and snow is on its way. Make sure you thoroughly grit all important outdoor areas, including car parks, driveways, paths, and entry and exit points. 

An office without heating is miserable in winter and it won’t be a comfortable working environment for your employees. This can drastically lower morale and even pose a health risk, so ensure that your boiler has been serviced and your heating system is working effectively before winter hits. 

A faulty or inefficient boiler can also cost you a lot more money in heating bills, as it will have to work twice as hard to maintain a stable temperature. If you’ve noticed rising energy bill costs, or other warning signs like leaks or strange noises, then it’s time to call an engineer. It’s also a good idea to replace your boiler if it’s over 10 to 15 years old, as it will have naturally become less efficient over time. 

Covid-19 means that many businesses have already adapted to employees working from home, but it’s still something to think about, especially if you’re keen to get people back to work in the office. Unpredictable weather often means that employees will be working at home last minute, so you need a back up plan in place to ensure they have everything they need to work productively and effectively at home.

Think about what equipment your staff will require, such as laptops, a work phone or important information like passwords. You’ll also need to ensure they have access to a strong, secure internet connection and that they can contact the company if needs be. You might also need to provide staff training so that everyone can access remote servers from their homes and you could also consider offering flexible hours if that would boost productivity. 

In extreme cases, bad weather and snow can bring down power lines, so it’s vital that you have a backup plan in place. Think about what to do if the server fails and staff can’t gain access; do you have the information backed up elsewhere? Is there any risk of a permanent loss of data? This is especially important if your company holds important customer contact information or other sensitive details. Consider a cloud based storage system to hold the most important data and think about how operations could run remotely. 

As a business, you have a certain obligation to keep employees safe and ensure they can work to the best of their ability, but it’s important for staff to think about their responsibilities too. Encourage all employees to plan ahead and think about what they will do if bad weather hits. For example, how will they get to work if the roads aren’t safe or public transport isn’t running? Is there a system in place so that they can call in, and how much notice should they give? 

It’s also important to assess the risks; never force your employees to travel if a warning has been issued and instead think about how they could work from home. Some businesses encourage staff to keep a back up kit in their car if they drive to work, including blankets, a shovel, portable phone charger and de-icer. This can make all the difference in an emergency and reduce the chances of employees getting stranded to or from work. 

Icy and snowy conditions can cause a lot of disruption for you and your business, so ensure all staff and customers stay safe with commercial gritting services from GMCB Ltd. We’re proud to offer efficient, professional services and industry standard road gritters, so you can be sure you have everything you need to help prepare for winter. 

Our services are designed with customer satisfaction and safety in mind and we offer a comprehensive range of gritting options, including car park gritting, preventative gritting and 24/7 emergency services. We also offer salt supplies, snow clearance (on a regular or one off basis) and site specific MET Office forecasting, so you can be sure that you’re as prepared as possible. 

We’ve worked on sites of all sizes, from small car parks to large distribution yards, so if you’re looking for a reliable gritting company you can trust, give us a call today or visit our website.