HANDYMAN House has welcomed customers back after being forced to close its doors when flood water swept through the building last November.

The business is now owned by Claire Lawson and her husband Chris Lawson, but it was originally founded by Claire’s father, Roy Newton, and has been trading for more than 50 years.

The Beacon spoke to Carole Newton, Claire’s mother, about what it was like for the family business to reopen following the flooding.

“People have missed the store because there is always something different to look at, said Carole.

“Monmouth has always been a good store.”

Handyman House has officially reopened after Storm Claudia
Handyman House has officially reopened after Storm Claudia. (Iliffe Media )

Store Manager at Handyman House, Kurt Marshall, said: “I have been in the merchant game for the last 15 years, so it's quite nice now to come across to a family-run business.”

Chris Lawson explained the huge scale of work which needed to be carried out as part of the restoration process with water reaching around two feet at the front of the building and around one foot inside the main shop area.

Lots of stock at Handyman House
Lots of stock at Handyman House (Iliffe Media )
An insight into the newly refurbished store
An insight into the newly refurbished store. (Iliffe Media )

“Part of the biggest problem was that we had an old petrol tank under the floor which needed to be taken out, so we had to dig half of the back of the shop out and have it filled and re-concreted,” said Chris.

“The roof was in a poor state of repair, so we took the opportunity to renew that, and all the electrics were damaged.

“We have had a new surface on the floor to try and make it more resilient to flooding in the future.

“All of these things have taken a long time, but we are back, we’re here and we’re open.”

This marks another positive milestone for the Monmouth community as more business continue to reopen on the high street.