Severe winter weather will have adverse affects on 84% of businesses, says R3

Should last winter’s severe weather return, 84% of businesses said they would be adversely affected – according to recent research by insolvency trade body R3. Nearly two thirds (61%) of businesses said that staff would be unable to attend work and nearly half (48%) said they would experience reduced profits. Frances Coulson, R3 President, comments: “These are worrying findings. Last year the weather caught us all off guard and the detrimental economic impact was widely reported. It seems as though a few days of icy weather this year could easily snowball into a financial disaster, especially for struggling businesses. They should be planning for the worst to avoid taking a real hit if trading suffers.” The survey found that 6% of business thought that adverse weather conditions could tip them into insolvency. In the retail and distribution sector, the findings were considerably higher than the national average, with 11% of businesses worrying that severe winter weather could tip them into insolvency.