Pocklington Post, Thursday August 2nd 2007,
‘Open for Business in Less than Six Weeks’, p.3

A businesswoman is back on her feet and opening her doors
once again following the floods that hit the town.

Bunty & Co. is one of the first businesses in town to be back up and running following closures forced by the flood which struck six weeks ago.

Nicola Scott, who owns the boutique, said the flood had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. Most of the shop’s stock was rescued but fixtures and fittings had to be re-built or re-painted and the shop shut for three weeks. The water destroyed purpose-built furniture such as the cash desk and the internal walls the run along the window sills.
 

Nicola said: “I was so fortunate in that there were two of us here – we cleared the rails and were literally throwing everything upstairs. In the space of 20 minutes the water was a foot deep and the basement was full.
It just came in so fast. We came back later that night and the water in the shop had gone but the mud was an inch thick and the basement was still full – we were pumping it out into the street until 3:30am.”

Nicola said her team had worked hard to get the shop back open again.

She said: “It’s just unfortunate that this is probably the lowest point at this end of town. It’s been a lot of expense, a lot of hard work and three weeks’ trading lost.”

The shop opened in August last year, so had not even completed a full year of business when the floods struck. But Nicola said she was keen to get back on track and already has some action plans.

Bunty & Co. aim to host another charity fashion show later in the year and the shop will have a stand at the Clothes Show Live in December at the NEC in Birmingham. Nicola said: “It’s a huge event, with thousands of visitors. I hope to get Pocklington on the fashion map”.

But the initial hurdle is getting shoppers back into Pocklington; Nicola said that trade is still worryingly low. She said: “It was quiet in the run-up to the flood because the weather was so poor. I think a lot of people think everywhere’s still out of business.”