Agency basement reopens 16 months after devastating flooding

Work has been completed on the £300,000 refurbishment of the lower ground floor of city living specialist estate agency Morgans in the centre of Leeds.

Its Dock Street office was submerged in more than five feet of water during the Boxing Day floods of late 2015.

The completely-renovated basement now boasts 2,000 square feet of contemporary space with a new kitchen, two themed break out spaces, a snug, bathrooms, showers and boardroom.

“Christmas of 2015 was a very difficult one for us, we lost all our break out space, our IT and comms room, but we managed to open our office within three hours of over 40 tonnes of water being pumped out of the building, and didn’t lose a single hour of trading time, which is something we were all very proud of” explains Jonathan Morgan, the firm’s managing director.

“The flooding was unprecedented and came at a time when flood alleviation works were already underway. We will never know whether the works would have protected us had they been completed, and we have not stopped to dwell on that. Having spent considerable time liaising with the Environment Agency, we are confident that the major works which have been carried out along the River Aire through the centre of Leeds will protect us in future” he adds.

The 2015 floods followed a period of heavy rainfall which trounced the North of England with the River Aire bursting its banks on Boxing Day. Morgans was one of many businesses effected by the floods.

However, figures from the firm, which manages the largest rentals portfolio of apartments in the city, show that only 12 of 11,000 apartments in Leeds City Centre suffered flood damage over the Christmas period, despite extensive disruption across the city.