With the flood threat rising as winter tightens its grip, Business Voice WM is warning companies of the need to safeguard IT equipment.

And, with the help of member organisation the UK IT Association, it has produced a Ten Tips guide to how they should go about it.

Bill Duncan, managing director of Secure Virtual Office, who compiled the guide, said: "The Midlands knows well the devastation that floods can cause, and already this year we have seen the suffering in Cumbria.

"With climate change developing apace it is doubly important that businesses have strategies in place to combat the threat.

"IT equipment is particularly vulnerable and its loss can cause huge problems, even threaten a firm's very existence. Businesses need to take sensible precautions and be aware that if the worst happens all may not be lost."

James Watkins, executive director of BVWM, said: "It is critically important that companies at risk of flooding are prepared. It can be very costly replacing IT equipment but the loss in revenues and to business reputation is likely to be even more costly.

"This is a practical reminder of what can be done and we would urge industry to take it on board."

The guide suggests computers and other expensive items should be located as high up as possible.

Make sure fire alarms are fitted and working, and back up your data files off site. 

One important tip is to prepare a business continuity plan.

The guide states: "Government figures show that a company that has a written business plan that it has tested and practised is 90 per cent likely to survive and in all cases will be up and running again in less time and with less disruption and loss of profits compared with a company without a written plan. The same survey show that a company that suffers a disruption to their IT service of a week or more is 80 per cent likely to fail within the next 18 months."

If, despite all this your IT equipment is caught up in a flood, BVWM stresses "don't panic".

It goes on: "Just because a computer has been under water, crushed or exposed to heat, it does not mean that data is irrevocably lost."

Save what you can and call in the experts, it advises.