Business owners devastated after flooding causes more than £1m of damage

Business owners at the Meadow Industrial Estate in Stockport have been left devastated after New Year's Day floods caused what's likely to be more than a million pounds of damage. The business park, located next to the River Tame and behind Meadow Mill, saw its second flood in three years, leading some tradespeople to contemplate shutting down.

More than 400 residents of the converted Meadow Mill apartments were evacuated by emergency services as the car park and lower floors were inundated, disrupting water and power supplies. The approximately 20 units on the industrial estate were also swamped with water that owners say reached over six feet high.

Workers returning to the units on Thursday found their life's work washed away, with stock and equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds destroyed. The total cost is expected to exceed £1 million.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, business owners revealed that the area had previously flooded in February 2022, causing significant damage and making it impossible for them to secure insurance.

Chris Fawley, 57, the proprietor of Meadow Mill Wood Finishing, said: "I'm done. Last time it cost me £20,000-£30,000 to get myself back on my feet. But that time the water only came up a foot or so. This time was much worse and you could probably double that figure and more.

"And what's the point when it could just happen again. I would just be flogging a dead horse. It's the customers I feel sorry for. I had about half a dozen things I was working on. If it would have been a few weeks ago there would have £300,000 worth of furniture in here."

Fawley was vacationing in Spain but cut it short and returned late on New Year's Day. "Even though I knew what I'd be coming back to I couldn't stay there," he said. "I had to come and see it myself so I could evaluate and think about the next step. Everything's unsalvageable.

"A mate of mine has lost £200,000 worth of machinery. He thinks it could bankrupt him and he might have to sell his house."

John Hayes, 52, from Heaton Chapel, who has been based at Meadow Mill for 15 years and has two neighbouring units, one a furniture workshop and one a storage unit containing classic cars and stock, shared his experience. "We managed to move some of the cars before it started to get really bad," he said.

"But some we couldn't. I moved my stock higher up and thought that it would be okay but the whole place is wr