With this story we worked with the client, their lawyers and told Telford & Wrekin Council what we were doing as well so they had a chance to respond.
A thriving Telford business is compiling a case against Telford & Wrekin Council and calling on businesses in similar situations to come forward.
Unique Copiers, based in a council owned building on St George’s Industrial Estate, said persistent flooding has cost them about £100,000 in losses and thousands of pounds have also been spent on repairs.
And the rain on October 19 meant staff had to be sent home once again and crates which were used to access the building floated away.
Bosses also believe they are not safe in the rented building due to blocked fire exits.
Adrian Casey, from Unique Copiers, said: “It has been an absolute joke.
“In the past we have had to take socks and shoes off, hike trousers up and wade through dirty water to get in, we have had to get 12 members of staff to climb through the car to the front door and we’ve often had to send staff home because the flooding has been that bad.
“The council has sent companies out to assess the situation and had cameras down the drains, they promised to sort it out years ago but still nothing.
“We’ve paid to replace tiles many times and it’s cost us thousands – I would estimate about £100,000 due to customers who can’t get into the building, damaged stock and that sort of thing.”
Mr Casey’s business has been running for more than 30 years and supplies copying equipment and maintenance contracts to schools and businesses both in Shropshire and across the UK.
In the seven years the firm has been based there the water has come inside the building in excess of 30 times and everytime it rains one foot of water blocks the entrance.
Mr Casey said despite reporting it over 100 times and promises from council staff that solutions will be found, nothing has been done.
He believes it has not been worth claiming on his insurance as the cost of insurance would then go up – at times he has refused to pay rent but now says he is forced to take this to court.
“They’ve threatened the bailiffs when we stopped paying so I had to pay up as I have a business to run, even though they haven’t fixed anything,” he said.
“So I feel I’ve been left with no choice but to go to court.
“We have evidence, pictures, emails etc and I know other businesses around this estate suffer in the same way so I want to hear from them.
“Contact us and we’ll go through lawyers – we can all work together to help get these premises up to the legal standards.”
To contact Unique Copiers call 0845 108 9050 or visit the website http://www.uniquecopiers.co.uk/.
