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The last few months will doubtless have provided a different kind of cold comfort to those businesses making up Britain's thriving community of ice cream manufacturers.
According to Companies House, half of the country's 701 companies which make ice cream have been set up in the last four years (https://companieshouse.blog.gov.uk/2022/01/31/a-history-of-ice-cream-manufacturing-for-the-general-public/).
This summer has provided ideal conditions for sales.
Data published by the Met Office showed that July was the driest in almost 90 years, with just over half the average rainfall for the month (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2022/driest-july-in-england-since-1935).
Yet whilst it is tempting to focus on climate change as only generating record high temperatures, we shouldn't lose sight of the other extreme of British weather: rain.
Only weeks after we were sweltering under 40 degree heat, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that there had been almost 1,700 flood warnings in England and Wales since the start of this year (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/climatechangeinsightsuk/august2022/pdf).
The report also spelt out what that means for homes and businesses throughout the UK: more than two million homes in England and a further half a million residential and non-residential properties in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are considered to be at risk from flooding.
Those startling figures should not have come as a complete shock as they bore out what the Association of British Insurers (ABI) outlined last year.
In a report urging the Government to beef up its spending on flood defences, the ABI stated that "flooding is the greatest natural disaster risk in the UK" (https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2021/06/joint-abi-and-flood-re-report-highlights-the-need-for-adequate-maintenance-of-the-uks-flood-defences/).
Many readers will, sadly, have experienced how there is more than simply a risk of flooding.
The most recent numbers from central Government show that flooding during the winter of 2019-'20 alone cost the economy £333 million (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/counting-the-costs-of-flooding#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20flooding%20to,2.1%20billion%20without%20flood%20defences).
Home and business owners wanting to determine their chances of falling victim can now check online to see how susceptible their local areas are to flooding (https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk).
Yet that only service only goes so far. It doesn't, for instance, highlight the likelihood of inundations caused by man-made factors, including blocked drains or burst pipes.
The impact of any such interruption to business - injury or damage to staff, structures and stock - can be substantial, so it is arguably very important for companies to assess those risks as part of their routine planning and do what they can to prevent their being put out of action.
That can mean more than ensuring that adequate insurance cover is in place.
Although we are all advised to do our bit for the environment by adopting more eco-friendly habits, there is perhaps little that we can do on an individual or direct basis to ward off rainstorms or calm waterways which are in spate.
Risk, however, can be increased or reduced by how or where we work. Agricultural enterprises which change the direction in which a field is ploughed, for instance, can affect the situation.
Some risks are also dependent on those around us.
The general principle is that a land owner is under no obligation to water flowing across their own property onto that of another. After all, the natural water course runs from higher land to lower ground.
Nevertheless, businesses which damage neighbouring properties by deliberately or inadvertently diverting the natural flow of water can be held liable if it can be shown that their actions materially contributed to what happened.
Litigation of this sort can be complex, costly and affect commercial operations as well as a firm's reputation, so is best avoided.
"Preparation", as the saying goes, "is better than perspiration" - or, in this case, precipitation.
Taking time to make sure that you have robust contingency measures is always better than dealing with the consequences of a deluge.
To discuss any of the above further, please feel free to contact Johanna: johannasmallman@bexleybeaumont.com | 07707 042739
