
South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has been awarded ‘Most Effective Recovery’ at the Business Continuity Institute’s Global Awards for its work on recovery from flooding, which hit South Yorkshire last autumn.
The award, presented to the service’s Resilience, Planning and Contingencies team at a virtual ceremony, recognises organisations which have effectively managed major incidents. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue rescued more than 300 people and pumped away an estimated 363 million litres of flood water when heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in parts of Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham in November 2019. It also coordinated the efforts of fire and rescue services and other agencies who arrived from all over the UK to support the local effort.
Area Manager Stewart Nicholson said, “The flooding which devastated so many parts of our county in 2019 will live long in the memory for many people and sadly it continues to affect the lives of those who were most severely affected. However, we are pleased that our work to plan for, respond to and ultimately recover from such an event has been acknowledged in this way. It provides much needed recognition to our staff who work so hard behind the scenes.”
The BCI Awards honour business continuity and resilience professionals and organisations worldwide. The global awards are the most prestigious event in the business continuity calendar. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue represented Europe, overcoming competition from organisations from five other regions to win the award.