Businesses in Cumbria are lobbying for a share in the county's rebuilding effort after last week's devastating floods.
The costs of the clean-up, which includes rebuilding several bridges, could run into tens of millions of pounds. The government has already pledged £1m, while the Federation of Small Businesses wants local companies to win contracts to help them recover from their losses.
Stephen Alambritis, FSB spokesman, said: "We are asking the insurance industry to keep trade local. After the floods in Yorkshire in 2007 the insurers were pulling in decorators and builders from 200 to 300 miles away."
Reconstruction work has already begun. In the worst affected town, Workington, where one bridge has collapsed and another been condemned, Network Rail is scheduled to open a temporary rail station to link north and south on Monday. Some 200 soldiers are installing a footbridge across the River Derwent, which is due to be completed at the weekend.
The bridge, paid for by the government, is provided by Mabey and Johnson, the Twyford-based company that made the preassembled Bailey Bridges in the second world war.
In September it agreed to pay £6.6m in fines and compensation after pleading guilty to paying bribes to win contracts in Ghana and Jamaica and breaching UN sanctions on Iraq. Mabey and Johnson said it could also supply bridges suitable for cars, although they would take some weeks to install.
Cumbria County Council said it was too early to put a price on the necessary work. Six bridges have collapsed and 1,300 should receive a preliminary check by the weekend. So far seven need further inspections by divers. The council said the government would help meet the cost of repairing damaged infrastructure.
Mr Alambritis said 80 per cent of small businesses hit by disaster on the scale of the floods take two to three years to regain lost sales. The FSB is offering loans of £5,000 to help companies with cash to replace equipment and restart operations. Typical losses range from £40,000-£80,000 per company, he said.
The North West Regional Development Agency has pledged up to £1m for small businesses in grants of up to £10,000.
John Wright, FSB president, who visited Cockermouth yesterday, said: "Many shops in the high street are open again. Others are selling their goods in community halls. The resilience is incredible."
However, he said banks should offer loans, since cash flow was key to avoiding bankruptcies. The FSB is asking councils to waive business rates for floodaffected companies. The government would refund 75 per cent of the cost.
Prince Charles turned on the Christmas lights in Keswick yesterday and declared the town "open for business". Larger businesses were more fortunate. Jennings, which brews its Lakeland ales such as Sneck Lifter in Cockermouth, said it would move production to other breweries owned by Marstons, its proprietor. It hoped brewing would restart on site by mid-January. Some 10p from every pint sold would go to the charity fund for flood victims, which has already raised more than £600,000.
Tony Holliday, who runs adventure holiday company KLM Travel in Keswick, said he was back in his office but had lost equipment to the floods and the company's chauffeur car had been written off by water in the engine.
He has had to increase his overdraft. "It is the busiest time for bookings and I am worried about losing them because we cannot service the inquiries," he said. With the £1bn tourism industry accounting for a fifth of the economy, such worries will be widespread.
Source:ft.com
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