SMALL firms’ owners have inundated a lobby group’s helpline for advice on the swine flu pandemic.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) said its members’ phoneline had experienced a surge of calls from companies seeking help.
Calls to the line only formed about 5% of all incoming queries at the start of July, but swine flu-related enquiries are now doubling on a weekly basis.
The FPB is aware of only one case of the virus among its members, but its dedicated advisers have been busy helping small firms’ owners to prepare for a possible outbreak of the virus among their staff.
FPB membership manager Maylis Foster said many of the enquiries her team were receiving were from business owners wanting to know how to put together written contingency plans. She said many public sector bodies and larger businesses were asking to see proof that their suppliers were prepared for an outbreak.
She said: “While we may not be taking a massive volume of calls on the matter, the numbers are rising by 100% each week.”
Visit www.fpb.org/swineflu
