Member Article

‘Band of flooders’ — Derby businesses overcome flood adversity

Derby businesses rallied together last month, helping each other overcome adversity when their commercial premises were decimated in the flooding.

Ground floor offices at River Side’s Charlton House were completely washed out as a result of the torrential weather.

Staff at Bluu Sky raised the alarm upon discovering their router was down during the weekend the flooding took place. The telecommunications company, who occupy one of the ground floor offices at Charlton House, suspected something was wrong and immediately notified other residents. To their shock and dismay, they discovered the entire floor was submerged, leaving many businesses without functional workspaces or critical communications.

Geoff Seymour, Owner at Bluu Sky, recalled: “It was an absolute mess when we arrived on the scene. We knew straight away that the only solution was to get everybody relocated to the upper levels as quickly as possible. If we managed that, then at least businesses could resume operations with minimal disruption.”

After alerting the others about the flooding, residents at Charlton House quickly assembled, working together to help shift equipment, workstations and get affected businesses moved to dryer offices.

Meanwhile, Bluu Sky set up a temporary base of operations, enabling the team to restore communications across the building.

Geoff continued: “After some impromptu wiring and technical application, it wasn’t long before phone systems and internet were up and running again. One occupant had to relocate two entire departments. Fortunately, we were able to get everything sorted early the very next day.”

Thanks to the quick work by Bluu Sky’s technicians, residents affected by the flooding were able to resume business on Monday.

Geoff also added: “I have to give special thanks to Antony Lay at AML Midlands for organising the internet connection, and to Karen Sheldon at Sheldon Flanders for letting our team set up in her meeting room. Without the combined efforts of the Charlton House community, we couldn’t have managed such a valiant effort.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Koobr .