James Hind and Jonathan Kassian, Flood Re
Flood Action Week 2025, from October 13-17, was the most action-packed in recent memory, and Flood Re was happy to be working with numerous partners throughout the week on announcements, events, and helping to land the message for householders to be aware of risk and prepared for possible events. This year, the focus on Property Flood Resilience (PFR) was central and brought in a range of new partners.
Monday
The all-new Floodmobile hit the road to launch Flood Action Week… first stop parliament. Parked outside Old Palace Yard in Westminster, a huge number of MPs stopped by to learn about protecting homes from flooding, including Shadow Flooding Minister Robbie Moore MP. Flood Re were joined by PFR advocate Flood Mary for Flood Action Week.
New research in partnership with Flood Re and JBA Risk Management was released, exploring the suitability of homes for PFR. Phase 1 of the report looked at the UK-wide numbers and found that 3.1m homes across the UK could meaningfully benefit from PFR measures, while Phase 2 looked at case studies in Hull, London, West Lothian, and Pontypridd. Here is a video summarising some of the report’s findings.
A new PFR Innovation and Testing Centre was opened by the Flood Minister, Emma Hardy MP, at the University of Hull, which will offer businesses access to world-class research and wet testing facilities, and expertise to accelerate innovation in the development of new flood resilience products and technologies. The project was supported by Flood Re and the Environment Agency (EA).
Flood Re hosted a Parliamentary Reception which brought together parliamentarians, policymakers, and key industry stakeholders to shine a light on how people can better understand and manage their flood risk. Flood Re Chair, Bridget Rosewell, welcomed the Secretary of State for Defra Emma Reynolds MP as our keynote speaker and the event was sponsored by Shadow Flooding Minister Robbie Moore MP.
Tuesday
The Floodmobile’s second stop on its maiden tour was in Birmingham where it was parked outside the council offices in Victoria Square. There was lots of interest from members of the public, many already at flood risk and others intrigued by the bright blue Floodmobile.
Flood Re also launched new research based on Consumer Intelligence data, looking at availability and affordability data collected by Flood Re going back to before the program was in place, which found that homes with a recent flood claim could be paying £8,000-£10,000 for their insurance premium without the Flood Re scheme in place.
Wednesday
Flood Re’s director of Corporate Affairs, Kelly Ostler-Coyle led media interviews in the early hours at MediaCity in Salford alongside Flood Mary. These included BBC Radio 4s You and Yours programme as well as That’s TV Manchester which both contributed heavily to a reach of around 660m people for the week.
In the afternoon the Floodmobile headed to Exchange Square in Manchester where staff from the Environment Agency were on hand to engage with the public.
Thursday
Thursday brought the launch of the FloodReady Action Plan and review led by Peter Bonfield, which brought together a wide coalition of stakeholders, from PFR experts, to architects and builders merchants, to insurers and government, in order to support a series of recommendations for how to scale up PFR, and improve delivery and implementation across the country. The work was led by Westminster University Vice-Chancellor Peter Bonfield, author of previous independent reviews including on PFR, was commissioned by the Environment Agency, and supported by a secretariat that included Defra, the EA, and Flood Re.
Launch of the Flood Resilient Garden: The Road to Howbery Park video.
Friday
The final stop on the Floodmobile tour was in Lancaster where Flood Re was joined partners from JBA Consulting, the International Property Flood Resilience Association (IPFRA), RAIN Northants and CIWEM BeFloodReady for a PFR workshop organised by JBA, bringing together local authorities and PFR practitioners to share best practices for delivery of local PFR schemes.
IPFRA also hosted a reception with partners from across the industry including Peter Bonfield.
In summary
Kelly Ostler-Coyle, Director of Corporate Affairs at Flood Re summed up the week:
“Flood Action Week presents a unique opportunity for cross industry collaboration to raise awareness of flood risk as well as how homeowners can help protect themselves and their properties.
“This year we highlighted both the financial cost, but also the emotional toll of flooding and the long-lasting devastation it leaves behind. It is important that homeowners firstly understand their flood risk, but then take action to better protect themselves, their home and family.”
