ISO 22301 certification in the United Kingdom

ISO 22301 certification in the UK at a glance

Impact tolerances, important business services and severe but plausible scenarios are FCA vocabulary rather than ISO wording, yet the work behind them overlaps heavily with a business continuity management system. The FCA's operational resilience rules apply to banks, building societies, insurers, payment and e-money institutions and others, and the PRA's supervisory statement SS2/21 extends the expectation to business continuity and exit plans for outsourced services. Outside finance, the Civil Contingencies Act requires Category 1 responders, including local authorities and NHS bodies, to put business continuity management arrangements in place, and their suppliers feel the effect. ISO 22301 gives these demands a certifiable structure: business impact analysis, risk assessment, continuity strategies, plans and a testing regime. Certification is granted by a certification body accredited by UKAS or by another accreditation body within the international mutual recognition arrangements. Sterling delivers from its London office, reusing existing impact tolerance mapping rather than duplicating it, with Effivity and Sterling Academy included.

Who needs ISO 22301 in the UK, and what happens without it

In the UK the question rarely comes from a law. It comes from the buyer, the regulator or the partner that wants proof before it signs. These are the organisations that get asked.

• Banks, insurers, payment and e-money firmsFCA rules require important business services to remain within impact tolerances.
• Service providers to PRA-regulated firmsSS2/21 covers business continuity and exit plans and expects assurance over provider controls.
• Suppliers to emergency services, local authorities and NHS bodiesCategory 1 responders must put in place business continuity management arrangements and look for resilient suppliers.
• Operators of essential servicesNIS Regulations focus on resilience of network and information systems.

ISO 22301 requirements in the UK

Strip away the vocabulary and ISO 22301 requires a company to prove six things about how it keeps operating when something goes wrong.

In the UK these six sit alongside the local laws and regulations listed under drivers below; one system can evidence both. The detail is on the global hub: ISO 22301 explained →

• ISO 22301 requirements, clause by clause in plain language
• The documents ISO 22301 expects

How to get ISO 22301 certified in the UK

One team from the London office carries the work from scoping to certificate. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, on-site from London; remote delivery for distributed teams.

1. Discovery call and scopeEntities, locations, regulators and target date, agreed before any proposal.
2. Gap assessment against ISO 22301 and the UK requirements that apply to youControls you already run for your regulators and customers are reused, not rebuilt.
3. Your system built with your team in EffivityRisks, controls, evidence, incidents and reviews in one live system the auditor can see.
4. Internal audit, management review and corrective actionsYour internal auditors trained by Sterling; the evidence proven before the certification body arrives.
5. Certification body stage 1 and stage 2, then surveillanceAn accredited body audits and decides. Sterling supports the audits and the three-year cycle.

The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements.Sterling does not certify. Certification decisions stay with independent bodies.

• The ISO 22301 certification process, step by step
• ISO 22301 internal audit

How long does ISO 22301 certification take in the UK?

There is no standard duration: it depends on your scope and on how much of the system already runs. In the UK these are the factors that set the timeline.

• Number of important business services and sites in scope
• Existing FCA/PRA impact tolerance mapping that can be reused
• Exercise and test programme completed before stage 2
• Third-party and outsourcing dependencies to assess

Sterling agrees a dated plan with you on the discovery call, once the scope is known.

• Scope and timeline estimator

How much does ISO 22301 certification cost in the UK?

The cost has two parts: the consulting work to build and prove the system, and the certification body’s audit fees, which are quoted separately. In the UK these factors move both.

• Scope of products, services and locations
• Depth of business impact analysis and scenario testing
• Certification body audit fees, quoted separately from consulting
• Alignment with ISO/IEC 27001 and IT disaster recovery

Sterling gives one customised, all-inclusive proposal after the discovery call, never before the scope is agreed.

• What makes up the cost of ISO 22301

ISO 22301 consultants and certification bodies in the UK

Two different organisations are involved. A consultant helps you build the system and prove it works; an accredited certification body then audits or assesses it and decides. Keeping the two separate is what makes the result credible to buyers and regulators.

• Check that the body’s accreditation or approval covers ISO 22301 and your sector, and that its certificates can be verified online.
• Ask the consultant how the local requirements in the UK are mapped into the same system, so nothing runs twice.
• Ask for client references in your sector; Sterling’s client letters are available on request.
• Agree who owns the evidence and the tool after the engagement; with Sterling the system stays yours, in Effivity.

ISO 22301 in the UK: questions clients ask

More on ISO 22301 for UK organisations

• ISO 22301: the complete guide
• Watch: How to implement ISO 22301
• Sterling in London
• ISO 22301 certification in the UK and every other standard Sterling delivers there

Other standards UK businesses ask Sterling for

Organisations in the UK often combine ISO 22301 with one of these, under one management system where the scopes allow.

All 23 standards Sterling delivers in the United Kingdom →