Business owners in Hull and East Yorkshire fearing the effect of flooding on their premises, employees and other assets are being offered free flood risk surveys by the University of Hull’s Flood Innovation Centre.
Once a survey has been carried out, the Flood Innovation Centre team can then work with business owners to help them understand their findings and how to make changes aimed at making their businesses more resilient to flooding.
The team is able to provide support to eligible SMEs using funding from the European Regional Development Fund, which will be available only to the end of the year.
Pip Betts, Project Manager at the Flood Innovation Centre, said: “We have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in flood resilience and flood innovation here at the Flood Innovation Centre but, because we’re funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, the support that we can offer to businesses won’t be available forever.
“That’s why it’s so important that business owners who want to ensure that their premises, employees, stock and other assets are protected against the risk of flooding make contact with our team as soon as possible to have a chat about getting their free flood risk survey booked in, and learn more about the additional support we can provide to help them act on the findings of their survey. The climate crisis means that the need to take action to mitigate and adapt to flood events has never been so vital.”
Communities across our region face a variety of different types of flood risk, and climate change, coupled with increasing urbanisation, means that flood events are happening more frequently. Fifteen years ago, during the 2007 floods, more than 1300 business premises were damaged in Hull alone. The Environment Agency estimates that the average cost of damage suffered by businesses during a flood event is around £82,000. As many as 40 per cent of businesses never reopen after being flooded, and a further 25 per cent of businesses that do reopen go on to fail within a year.
Businesses concerned about flooding and its potential impact on their activities are encouraged to contact the Flood Innovation Centre on 01482 462275, emailing flic@hull.ac.uk or completing an online registration form at www.floodinnovation.co.uk/register.
