Powerminster endures flooding

Building services and facilities management specialist Powerminster Gleeson Services (Powerminster) suffered flooding two weeks ago. The ground floor of the company's headquarters at Don Road in the Brightside Lane area of Sheffield was completely flooded on Monday June 25, with all power, phone and internet connections to the building completely wiped out. Staff took refuge on the first floor until the floodwaters subsided, with only vending machine snacks and drinks to keep them going. They were, however, able to power one light and a small TV with a temporary generator that a colleague had fortunately just brought back from site. Many of those stranded were able to leave the building at 4am when the flood waters subsided, but for those whose route home involved going through flooded areas, some remained in the building overnight. Despite the setback, Power-minster said it was able to operate a business-as-usual service for clients within hours of last week's floods, thanks to its business continuity plan. 'Floods on this scale are not something we had envisaged. However we have a robust business continuity plan in the event of our Head Office building being put out of action,' Martyn Horton, Powerminster managing director, said. 'I am very pleased with the way in which the team pulled together to ensure minimum disruption to our clients. Like so many others, we must now begin the clean-up operation, and our teams are also helping some of our neighbours to address the challenges of the damage caused.'