A RESTORATION business based in Basingstoke is moving to a new and bigger facility in Old Basing after “saving £1.17m for its clients over the past three years”.

DisasterCare, which deals with domestic and commercial properties that have been damaged by flood or fire, will be moving to a new facility in Water End Old Basing next month.

Andy Tait, 48, who started the business four years ago in his partner's garage in Old Basing, said he is immensely proud as he is also employing eight people now.

“We are moving to a new facility and hiring more people – not huge, but to get to where I came from is huge for me personally,” Andy said.

“We have dealt with many major fires in Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire in the past four years.”

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Andy said his team is the first on site of a flood or fire after the emergency services. DisasterCare focuses on repairing and restoring the items that have been damaged.

This includes clothing, bedding, rugs, sofas and even electrical items.

“We will do whatever we can to stop an item going to landfill,” Andy said.

“Last year we restored just under 50,000 items saving it going to landfill. We live in a world of ‘fast fashion’.

We are trying to change the throw-it-away-and-get-new culture. Doing what we do have saved 1.3 billion litres of water that’s enough for 492,344 adults for three years. We know these figures are correct based on the research we have done, taking into account what is needed to make the items in the first place.

“We saved our clients £1.17m over the past three years, but changing their mentality from giving customers money for new to ‘we can restore that’. What we found is customers don’t always want new, as in many cases there is a lot of sentimental value.”

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Disaster Care also won the Environmental Impact Award at the recent Basingstoke and Deane business awards.

Andy moved to Basingstoke from Edinburgh five years ago, while his partner Marie has been an Old Basing girl since she was two.

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