Owen Williams, the international consultancy business, has moved back to its offices following evacuation during the Lewes floods last October.

The firm suffered £1.5million damage at its headquarters when the River Ouse burst its banks.

The company, which provides building, transport and property consultancy services to businesses worldwide, was forced to abandon its Brooks Road offices when they became submerged under 11ft of water.

Contracts manager Colin Jordan, who is also the internal facilities manager, co-ordinated the evacuation to temporary offices in Crawley and the move back to Lewes.

Colin heads the crisis management division which has a disaster recovery team consisting of structural and mechanical engineers and building surveyors.

The team was called into action, for the first time in its existence, to take care of its own surroundings as well as those of others.

Colin said: "We were tackling the damage to our own offices as well as to 168 other properties in East Sussex - providing hands-on support, technical back up, contractors and equipment such as pumps and dehumidifiers.

"It was a challenging time for us but I'm delighted we were able to manage the demands on our team and effect solutions for all clients in the minimum amount of time.

"We have an experienced team who were able to respond quickly and provide practical support to the many organisations in the area who were badly affected by the floods.

"It's the first time that the team's skills have been used to this extent so close to home - their know-how was invaluable when we, and many others, were faced with a crisis of this magnitude."

The crisis management team provides relief services for organisations affected by fire, flood or structural damage and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Owen Williams employs 120 people in Sussex. The company was instrumental in restoring many flood-damaged schools in East Sussex so they could reopen within a week.