Currently a severe "space weather" event would most likely be considered an "emergency" under the CivilContingencies Act 2004 and require help from the armed forces.
Indeed, the Chartered Management Institute and the CivilContingencies Secretariat, within the Cabinet Office, produce an annual report on threats to business including best practice advice on implementing business continuity plans (BCP).
Defense managers stated in congressional testimony that they had been forced to rely increasingly on contract employees during the Bush years because the ranks of civil servants had thinned even as workloads grew due to overseas contingencies.