The BCI has published its Continuity and Resilience Report 2026, drawing on 147 respondents across 19 sectors and ten interviews. The study reveals that 53.1% of organizations now differentiate between business continuity and resilience (up from 39.4% in 2023), as business continuity settles into an operational delivery role while resilience claims strategic oversight.
Leadership engagement is the dominant priority: 92.2% expect senior management attention to increase over the next five years, and 61.8% anticipate business continuity as a ‘tick-box’ exercise will decline. However, governance gaps persist. Direct board reporting for resilience leads fell from 45.4% in 2025 to 40.3%. While 46.7% desire a board-level resilience appointment, they expect difficulty securing support, leaving ultimate accountability fragmented across the C-suite (led by CEOs at 31.6%).
Business continuity remains focused on operational recovery – principally minimising internal impact (83.6%) and exercising plans (82.2%). Interconnected risk management lags: only 56.9% coordinate regularly with other risk disciplines, 48% assess supply chain disruption, and 47.3% address customer harm.
Remote-working preparedness also trails operational realities: 70.8% permit extensive homeworking, yet 47.7% maintain office-only continuity plans, and just 18% factor broadband outages into infrastructure planning.
The BCI Continuity & Resilience Report 2026 is sponsored by Riskonnect.
