Businesses in Leeds city centre are being offered free help and advice on what preparations and actions they can take to continue trading in the event of disruption or emergencies.
A seminar is being held at the Civic Hall on Tuesday, September 23, to discuss the issue of emergency planning and business continuity. The event will also be an opportunity to promote the newly updated ‘Leeds Alert’ system which transmits important police messages in the event of things like a terror attack, flooding, gas explosions, severe weather, a demonstration or something affecting transport.
Alert messages are received by subscribers via a variety of methods including SMS texts to their mobile phones or by email. This year alone, the scheme has been used to inform businesses of potential flooding, a gas explosion outside St James Hospital, advice following an evacuation request by a bomb disposal team and other serious incidents with the ability to cause disruption and potential chaos in Leeds.
Several guest speakers have been invited to the Civic Hall seminar, including representatives from West Yorkshire Police, Leeds City Council’s peace and emergency planning unit and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust There will also be a presentation by Vocal Communications which provides the Leeds Alert system. It will specifically outline the improvements to the technology which now includes a new secure online forum so subscribers can share information between themselves.
Roger Carter, Principal Emergency Planning Officer at Leeds City Council said: “Leeds Alert has been in place for over three years now and has proved itself as an excellent incident management tool in helping us to warn and inform organisations within the city. The upgrade of the scheme to Vocal’s new iModus messaging platform allows for the opportunity to promote further awareness of city centre evacuation plans and seek renewed interest from all businesses in Leeds whether small, medium or large.”
Councillor Richard Brett, Leader of the Council said: “It’s very important that there is a proper plan in place and that businesses and organisations know what to do in the event of an emergency in Leeds. That’s why I’d like to encourage them to come along to this free seminar. It’s clear that the Leeds Alert system is proving its worth by getting emergency messages around the city on several occasions already, but the upgrade will ensure it remains a robust way of communicating in the event of a crisis here.”
