April 2016
A supplement to The Oxford Times
inbusinessoxfordshire.co.uk
High flyers
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Business
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PROPERTY
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
12 FOCUS
inbusiness April 2016
Company a real high-dryer
By Jane Marriott
W
hen areas of
Cumbria were
suffering severe
flooding in
December, and in subsequent
further occurrences, help
for households was at hand
from staff of The Revival
Company, in Oxfordshire.
From its head office in Chalgrove,
the company operates branches
throughout the country, but staff
helping in Cumbria included
personnel from Oxfordshire as
well as those more locally based.
Since then, as well as at the
subsequent flood strikes in the original
area, the company has been providing
assistance to householders affected by
the later incidents in other parts of the
north of England, and in Scotland.
The company specialises in services
that deal with the aftermath of these
occurrences, drying‐out properties
and helping people to salvage
their furniture and belongings.
“I was amazed at what our staff
achieved, and to huge effect,” says
group director, Matthew Cooper. “The
teams spent some eight weeks there.
“The Environment Agency has
very sophisticated systems to provide
advance warnings, and we had pre‐
emptively sent staff to the area two
days in advance of the flood‐waters
rising, as it was very obvious that
something was going to happen.
“There were some 5,000 properties
in the area, and we were working
on about 10 per cent of these. We
go in as quickly as possible, help
people as quickly as possible, and
when they are able to get back into
their homes it is very gratifying.
People are very grateful.
“The first measures include putting
furniture upstairs to stop it from
getting damaged, and helping the
householders with their other contents.
“Mostly people don’t want to have
to leave their homes, for that brings
other considerations such as about
proximity of their children’s schools
and their own journeys to work.
“They don’t want to move, and we
do all we can to ensure that they stay.
To be able to do so is a valuable thing.
“As part of the Revival group of
companies we have a research and
development arm which has been
working on developing ways in
which we can dry out properties
more quickly and efficiently.
“Drying out completely may
take days, rather than weeks. We
have heaters that provide heat of
up to 200 kilowatts. This compares
with that output by a typical boiler,
which is some 30 kilowatts, as
it is only used for hot water.
“We can prevent damage by
drying quite quickly, by using a vast
amount of hot air. The temperature
can reach 25 to 30 degrees. We can
also put down a temporary false
floor of chipboard and carpet.
“As well as drying as quickly as
possible, it is important to clean
inbusiness April 2016
FOCUS 13
Flooding in Oxford between the
rail line and the A34 looking
from Redbridge towards Botley
Picture: Lee Ingram
airexperiences.co.uk
away all the dirt and bacteria, to
prevent any odour developing. If
it hangs on, it will be a continuing
reminder of the flooding.”
The Revival Company has now been
in existence for 30 years. “Originally
its work was just in the three counties
of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and
Buckinghamshire,” says Mr Cooper.
“Until 10 to 15 years ago this was
much the area covered. Since then it
has expanded, with branches now
established all around the country.”
Its founders were Graham and Sally
Orriss who lived in Great Milton, and
who continue to be very much involved.
“It started as a family business –
planning it around a kitchen table
– and it has grown very considerably
over the years,” says Mr Cooper.
“Over the past 20 years it had been
growing by 20 per cent a year – thus
doubling its size in four years.”
There is now a group of companies,
including the commercial arm named
Arepa. In both the more domestic
and the commercial aspects, the
company also works internationally.
“Sometimes one of our UK clients
may have a holiday home or other
property in somewhere like France or
Spain, and they will ask us to go out
to deal with any flooding or similar
episodes out there,” says Mr Cooper.
Arepa operates in fields that
include problems affecting wind
turbines – notably in Denmark,
where there are large numbers. The
construction of the turbines is subject
to corrosion caused by salt water
where they are sited on a seaboard.
Its operations are also in the marine
environment. A fire in a ship’s boiler
room would result in serious problems
with respect to the ship’s engines,
with an urgent need for the removal of
residues to stop resulting rusting and
corrosion. Having to replace an engine
would be a vast expense, as well as the
costs resulting from the vessel being
out of action, Mr Cooper points out.
Enabling companies to get back as
quickly as possible into being fully‐
operational is essential. Another example
of this which Mr Cooper quotes is
when the manufacturer of boxes for
cereals – producing millions of boxes a
year – had a serious fire on one of the
machines. To have to order a replacement
machine from Australia would have
been an enormous expense; having the
existing one back and running as soon
as possible was what was needed.
A reason for the expansion of the
company’s network of branches in
this country was the requirement of
insurance companies to be provided with
a national coverage for work carried out
on their behalf, Mr Cooper explains.
“It is almost impossible to work
with the insurance companies
otherwise,” he says.
Operating via the head office in
Chalgrove, there are now branches in
major areas of population from Scotland
to the south of England, examples
being in Edinburgh, Newcastle‐upon‐
Tyne, Manchester, Birmingham, and in
East Anglia and the home counties.
“Where there are chimney‐pots, we
have got a branch,” says Mr Cooper. “In
London there are even more chimney‐
pots, and we have three branches there.
Each branch has its own workshops and
equipment, and works directly with the
clients, Chalgrove is the model branch.
“At our workshops we can store
furniture and contents of their houses
for people, while their houses are being
redecorated, and we can decontaminate
them, although we try to do as much
of the work on site as possible. We will
continue to support the householders
who have had to move out until their
properties are ready for re‐occupation.
“Nowadays the company also
manufactures much of its own
equipment. This assists us as we do
not need to hire from other people,
although we have an agreement to
ensure that enough is always available.
The system has worked extremely
well over the past few months.”
The manufacturing base is at Peterlee,
just south of Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne. “We
have been able to recruit staff with an
engineering background in that area,”
Mr Cooper is pleased to be able to say.
“Until we started to make our own
equipment seven years ago, we were
finding that other suppliers did not
always quite do what we needed it to do.
To be able to design our own for the job
that is required is really beneficial for us.
“We can also invest in training and
providing career development for our
staff. It is a very successful formula.”
Although providing this nationwide
service, The Revival Company has also
been bringing help to people in its local
area in recent years – householders in
parts of Botley and Cowley have been
among those to benefit from its expertise.
Telephone: 01865 801694
Website: therevivalcompany.co.uk
Matthew Cooper with some
equipment recently returned
from the North of England