A MOTHER and daughter whose property management agency fell victim to the devastating York floods of 2015 have been recognised in an annual awards scheme.

Claire Leathley and Charlotte Baron launched their Belvoir office in Walmgate only five months before a deluge caused floodwaters to overwhelm York and surrounding areas, affecting more than 450 residential properties and 174 businesses.

At this year’s Belvoir ‘high achievers’ awards, open to more than 170 of the nationwide property group’s total of 300 offices, chief operating officer Dorian Gonsalves introduced a new category for 2017 –the ‘Special Recognition’ award,

He said: “This year the judges wanted to add a new award category to the 31 we already run, prompted by an office that overcame huge adversity on Boxing Day 2015.

“We wanted to give special recognition to mother-and-daughter team Claire Leathley and Charlotte Baron, whose business was instantly shut down when disastrous floodwaters hit them. They worked tirelessly to move the business into the spare room of their house and within 48 hours an IT team had managed to retrieve all data from their computers to help keep their service running.

“This hugely determined partnership put in a supreme effort to retrieve and protect all the files relating to both the business and their client base. Despite massive odds stacked against them they managed to become the first business to reopen on their street in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“They are massively worthy winners of this inaugural award and the entire Belvoir network applauds them for a remarkable achievement.”After receiving the award, Claire said: “We were just one of very many local homes and businesses that had to cope with a terrible situation but everyone rallied around to help out and keep our collective spirits up.“After the transfer of files we worked 14-hour days over 12 weeks in an effort to be ready for when we could move back in.

“Failing was not an option and we can now look back, with huge thanks to Belvoir and everyone else that helped us to carry on.“It’s a story with a happy ending because our completely refitted and refurbished office is now bigger and better than before and we have kept the fantastic loyalty of our clients, suppliers and other supporters.”

“We didn’t expect an award for this, but we are extremely thankful because it is a symbol of solid support from people who care and it will be a lasting reminder of how everyone helped us overcome a dire situation.”