Weather UK: Storm Barney creates havoc for small businesses but boosts hardware retailers

Small businesses have been disrupted by the severe weather conditions caused by Storm Barney. As the storm hit the UK on 17 November, retailers and smaller companies have been hit by the strong winds, according to lobby groups.

Both the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) have raised concerns about the weather. The weather is causing "significant" disruption for small businesses according to John Allan, national chairman of the FSB.

"In a recent FSB survey, it was found that two-thirds of small businesses have been negatively affected by severe weather in the last three years," he said. "The financial cost of these severe weather events over this period was, on average, just under £7,000 for each affected business."

The BIRA said its clients were seeing an increase in hardware sales as people in the UK went on to fix their belongings damaged by the storm.'

The FSB is urging small businesses to clarify the risk of flooding and to explore the benefits of flexible workers for staff. The lobby group urged businesses to be resilient.

"Logistics is another issue for small businesses during times of adverse weather, with 32% of small businesses affected having trouble with infrastructure and transport," the FSB said. "Some measures to ease pressure on logistics in difficult times may include stockpiling, resilient storage locations and spreading delivery and supply risks through multiple suppliers."