A YORK letting agent is having a triple celebration - of the tenth anniversary of owning her company, which has just been rebranded to coincide with moving back into her previously flood-hit offices.

Anya Mathewson, director of Letters Property Management Ltd and InYork Holidays in Walmgate, was one of about 650 city-centre home and business owners affected by the floods at the end of last year.

She was determined to turn the setback into a positive, so took the refurbishment as an opportunity to update the company’s colour scheme and introduce a new logo.

Ms Mathewson has also invested in new IT systems and software, and taken on extra staff to help with the company’s expansion into block management.

She threw a celebration party at the Royal York Hotel for current and former staff and contractors who have helped her expand the residential and holiday lettings business over the last ten years.

She said: “I wanted to thank everyone for their support in building Letters into what I believe is the biggest independent letting agent in York.”

Ms Mathewson, who took over Letters in 2006 after working as its finance manager for four years, said: “I knew it had a good, friendly vibe and the staff and contractors were extremely loyal and professional. I now feel as though I bought into a family – and it was one of the best decisions of my life.”

She said: “When the floods hit, everyone turned up for work in their wellies and our contractors did all they could to help us move upstairs to temporary offices and minimise the damage downstairs. The business was up and running again within a day.”

Ms Mathewson made a point of using local contractors to carry out the refurbishment. As the offices dried out, she decided to update the company’s signature black-and-green colours into lime green and grey, and adopt a new open door logo. She said: “The zingy green is more modern and the grey reflects the fact we’re a professional and reliable agency with a secure foothold in York.”

Ms Mathewson has seen many changes to the York letting business over the last ten years. “More people are looking to rent these days, and they’re staying longer, so there’s a shortage of good rental properties,” she said. “The industry has also become far more closely regulated, which for us has involved more staff training and work to increase landlord awareness.

“We’ve also built up the holiday lettings business, InYork Holidays, and seen it expand rapidly as a result.” Letters also manages a number of almshouses and blocks of flats, and recently added two new developments to its block management portfolio.