Login 
Copart UK, a company that holds used and salvaged car auctions in addition to running a website for buying cars, has always emphasised the importance of well-documented processes and continuous improvement.
When the pandemic spread, Copart UK was able to rely upon its business continuity plan to help them work effectively and with minimal disruption. But the unprecedented situation also revealed that there was room for improvement.
To strengthen specific areas of their planning and create a truly robust continuity plan for their business going forward, Copart UK turned to QMS.
The Business Continuity Solution
The first stage of the process was to identify and evaluate any risks to their critical operations and find ways of managing, mitigating or removing these risks to keep the business going, no matter what happens.
To help businesses become more resilient, QMS consultants work with businesses to identify gaps in their continuity plans, conducting business impact assessments and gap analysis reports to find and record risks. Stephanie Barnard, Head of performance Management, Quality and Audit explains:
We’d already got a tried and tested business continuity plan, but we worked with QMS to review specific elements of the plan that needed to be strengthened, such as recovery times and the business impact assessments to identify critical services.”
Using this information, QMS helped to build a bespoke business continuity plan, which the business can use in the event of a disruption to keep key services running and shorten the amount of time needed to recover.
The experience QMS have in putting business continuity plans together is evident, and they were really supportive in helping us pull together all of the various strands of our services and to put together a meaningful business impact assessment. The other real benefit we’ve seen from this approach is we have learnt about business continuity planning as part of the process, so we feel as though our internal knowledge and experience has been improved.
Once a plan was created, QMS helped with testing it, a key part of business continuity maintenance. This testing can be carried out in the form of a desktop walkthrough, scenario-based test or simulation.
QMS supported us with a mock exercise, which will prepare us for our own in the future. I feel really confident that we understand this more fully now.
Working towards ISO 22301
With a strong and tested plan in place, Copart UK decided to take the next step and work towards achieving ISO 22301, the international Standard for business continuity management.
After doing so much work on the business continuity plan, it made sense to put us straight into the ISO certification to consolidate our learning and get our future plans in order. I am also sure it will give our customers some comfort.
The Business Continuity Solution meets, and even exceeds, some of the requirements of the ISO, putting companies that have adopted the solution ahead of the curve when it comes to preparing for certification.
For example, the Solution includes:
- Business impact assessment and threat assessment (exceeds the ISO 22301 requirement)
- A bespoke business continuity plan (exceeds the ISO 22301 requirement)
- An exercise programme (meets the requirement for ISO 22301)
Copart UK found the transition from simply having a Business Continuity Solution to having this tested and verified with ISO 22301 to be a smooth one.
The approach we took to create the business continuity plan and then launch straight into ISO 22301 certification was a really efficient and effective way to tie the two projects together.
With both the Solution and ISO 22301, Copart UK can now move forward with the reassurance that they have a strong and up-to-date continuity plan and management system that can support them in the event of future disruptions, something that may also help to improve their customer satisfaction. Copart UK has also been able to integrate the new ISO’s processes into their existing suite of Standards, simplifying management and helping to maintain best practice.
I think this will really show our customers that we are committed to maintaining our services when it matters the most. Our suite of ISOs covers all aspects of our services and ISO 22301 is a great complement to that.
“Our business continuity plan is now in a much more comprehensive format with elements we’d not fully considered previously. It’s a document we want to keep up to date and make as easy as possible to use if we are ever in a situation in which we need to.
Keep business going, no matter what happens
An internationally recognised mark of best practice, ISO 22301 will enable you to implement, maintain and improve a business continuity management system, which will support your business before, during and after disruption.
To find out more, visit our dedicated webpage for ISO 22301.
You can also get in touch on 0333 344 3646 or by emailing [email protected].
