The Flood Diaries
2009 Flood…
Thursday 19th November
Around 1pm – The water arrives at our door and 7 staff along with Dad (John) and client Clive Kirkpatrick frantically work to save as much as we can, I then call the phone company and divert the office phones to my mobile and arrange to have our in house computer system set up in our homes, all while the water level gradually rises up the stairs.
Around 1pm – The water arrives at our door and 7 staff along with Dad (John) and client Clive Kirkpatrick frantically work to save as much as we can, I then call the phone company and divert the office phones to my mobile and arrange to have our in house computer system set up in our homes, all while the water level gradually rises up the stairs.
Around 1pm – The water arrives at our door and 7 staff along with Dad (John) and client Clive Kirkpatrick frantically work to save as much as we can, I then call the phone company and divert the office phones to my mobile and arrange to have our in house computer system set up in our homes, all while the water level gradually rises up the stairs.
Friday 20th November
We can’t do much but set up 3 teams working from home and we start to contact clients due to depart in the next two weeks to make sure they have their tickets etc.
John from Mitchells calls to say they may have some temporary premises!
Saturday 21st November
07.30am – Sneak past the road blocks through the sorting office yard and over the fence to see the devastation at the office.
9am – Shake hands with Mitchells on new offices
10am – Staff meeting just to let everyone know what will be happening – half the team will handle the bookings while the rest set up the new premises.
Sunday 22nd November
Put up a sign (the same one that went up Kilimanjaro with Cockermouth School in July so it’s seen some action!) and make long lists of things to do. I am quoted in one Sunday newspaper “Gordon Brown is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land if he thinks £1 million is enough to put Cumbria right”. I am interviewed on SKY along with Tony Cunningham and Minister Rosie Winterton in which I again make the point about funding.
Monday 23rd November
Order new desks, PC cabling, sort temporary phone system but we are told by BT that it could take 2-3 weeks for lines to be connected. Do interviews with the Times, Telegraph, Mail, Sun, Observer, Radio Cumbria, Radio 5 Live and Sky News in which I praise the amazing job done by all the emergency services and that United Utilities had an army of staff working 24hrs…BUT BT are conspicuous by their absence.
Tuesday 24th November
10am – BT press office calls from London, they will get back to me.
12am – A director of BT calls to say we will have 3 engineers within the next 20 minutes…FANTASTIC – the power of the media. The BT lads arrive and do a brilliant job working late into the night to connect all in the Main Street at Mitchells complex.
Tuesday 25th November
I make the front page of the Sun along with pneumatic TV star Jordan with the headline “Floody Marvel” (a reference to how quickly we started work again). We drill a hole through the wall and borrow broadband from those nice people at Mitchells and soon have 2 PC’s up and running – PROGRESS!
Thursday 26th November
New desks arrive and we start to see the new office take shape. I receive a Royal summons to meet HRH Prince Charles (better get Baldrick to dust off ones only suit!)
Friday 27th November
We are up to full speed. We have phones, full computer system and I recall all the team to base. Then it’s off to Keswick to meet HRH and his team including Mark Price the Chairman of Waitrose. I tell them the BT story which goes down well and HRH and Philip Green the Chief Exec of United Utilities come over and shake my hand and congratulate us on our amazing turnaround.
Saturday 28th November
HRH Prince Charles calls in to the office and takes off his coat and proceeds to chat to all – WOW is this really happening! We are all so impressed that he gets a round of applause when he leaves, I am not sure if this is good protocol but what the heck!
Saturday PM – I need to kiss the wife, cuddle the kids, pat the dog and have a large drink, just not necessarily in that order!
Image >>> Paul (even less hair than usual) Cusack
2015 Flood
Six years later my diary isn’t half as interesting, I didn’t shame BT in the press into installing our phones and broadband in 48hours when they had said three to four weeks, I also didn’t make it on to the front page of the Sun on top of (above) the topless model Jordan and instead of Prince Charles we got Jeremy Corbyn! And whilst we feel cheated that we got the not so popular leader of the opposition we still have a lot to be grateful for – what would the devastation have been like if we hadn’t got the flood defences and 8 to 10 feet of water had been raging down the streets?
I feel so sorry for all the residents of the town who had their homes destroyed and lost personal possession’s which are often irreplaceable – we are fortunate as we are fully insured and will soon be back on Main Street and functioning as normal.
Many thanks for all the support and general well-wishes we received in our time of need but on a more personal level I’d like to personally thank my amazing staff who have worked so hard and are a continual source of inspiration, laughter and dedication – I’m a very lucky boss!
