Why wellbeing and security are now central to continuity strategies for SMEs

For years, supply chain risk was measured mainly in numbers. How fast could goods move? How reliable were suppliers? How tight were costs? That approach worked in calmer times. But the past few years have knocked the system sideways. The pandemic. Trade wars and sanctions. Weather extremes made worse by climate change. Civil unrest in fragile economies. Each crisis left supply chains stretched thin, sometimes to breaking point. And the shocks rarely stayed local. A flood in South Asia, or riots in Southeast Asia, sent ripples through markets thousands of miles away, raising costs, delaying shipments, and cutting into profits. What became clear is that risk is not just about freight routes and inventories. It’s also about people. When employees are unwell, unsafe, or exhausted, the chain slows. At worst, it snaps. The lesson: supply chains can no longer be treated only as cost centres. They are strategic assets, and protecting people is inseparable from protecting business continuity.