Businesses in Stroud town centre speak out after flood damage

Stroud Valleys Project and Confection Affection, based in Threadneedle Street, are two businesses which were affected by the extreme weather on Monday.

SVP communications coordinator Kerri Tyler said: “I had a WhatsApp message at around 8pm saying the ceiling in our row of shops had come down, so my husband and I rushed in to assess the damage.

“Our office and shop were in a dreadful state – several ceiling tiles had come in with the torrents of water and most of the upper floor was soaked

"Our CEO Clare was worst affected, with her computer equipment ruined, as well as pages of important paperwork, and we’ve also lost a couple of hundred pounds of stock in our eco shop.

"We were literally tipping water out of Clare’s keyboard and monitor – I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

“We’d like to thank The Door for quickly coming to our rescue with a big bag of computer equipment, and everyone else who has chipped in with donations to help us get back on an even keel.

"We weren’t the worst affected, and we hope everyone whose homes or businesses were damaged is able to get the support they need.”

Confection Afection was also affected by the weather. 

Its owner Peter Elms said: "Given the severity of the weather we were prepared and on scene quickly to take action to minimise the damages and loss.

"After a few hours we had cleared up and made good, so it was safe to open on time at 9am Tuesday as usual."

Chair of Stroud Chamber of Trade Tony Davey said: "This weather event certainly hit the Stroud town centre hard and many businesses were impacted to different degrees.

"The shopkeepers and business owners are both resourceful and cooperative so, in the majority of cases where the damage was manageable, they were able to resume and reopen without too much delay or disruption.

"Our social networks were certainly alive on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, with many helping each other and issuing alerts to those not on scene."