Winter Tip 3 – Winter Risk Management

The end of autumn brings out a special hope in most of us. As we look longingly to the months ahead we think of cottages dusted with snow, logs cracking in an open fire and happy children skating on the frozen lake. Trish from accounts has already ordered several woolly jumpers from TK Maxx online and despite no one wanting to make the first move, at least half of the office is secretly bursting to get the secret Santa up and running. It’s been a long, sweaty summer and everyone’s looking forward to the cosy, loving months of the English winter.

Fast forward a week and there’s a tremendous banging on the front door. It’s Trish from accounts and she’s having trouble with the mag-lock. What’s left of her umbrella is inside out and whatever hair the rain hasn’t matted to her contorted, yelling face is streaming wildly in the wind. Finally she yanks open the door and bumbles her way inside. Her woolly jumper has done nothing to deflect the torrential downpour of freezing cold rain and there’s a leaf stuck to her forehead.

This isn’t the winter she was promised.

We’d all love that picturesque winter of our dreams but the reality is that we’re in for a bombardment of rain, sleet, snow and everything in between. The elements will wreak havoc on your property and without the right preparation you’ll be looking at a major repair bill to foot in the spring. Here’s the third instalment of our top five ways you can prepare your commercial property for the winter:

Tip 3 – Pre-Order Sandbags

Getting into the sand market early will ensure that you’re not fighting for every grain when the floods come bowling in. At about £4 per bag at this time of year, look into how many you think you’d need to block up any sources of ingress. Buying them now will ensure you have them when you need them rather than at the back of the queue paying premium prices, knee deep in your new moat. You can also look at other means of flood prevention which could prove more cost effective like purpose made barriers. An air brick seal can cost £10 and save you thousands.

Jake Jones, Propertyserve Helpdesk