A Cumbrian firm has been helping local retailers to stay in business after stock and premises were damaged by winter floods.

Sell Your Products Online (SYPO), based in Kendal, specialises in making trading across the internet more simple and has been working with businesses across the region to continue selling after retail spaces were closed down.

After having been flooded in its base of Sand Aire House, SYPO managing director Alan Jewitt has been working with companies to help them continue trading.

Hundreds of businesses across the North West were affected by the floods with many not knowing where to turn after such a vital revenue stream was cut off.

With expertise in dispatch integration, the firm is able to streamline the entire sales and delivery operation.

Mr Jewitt said: “We wanted to show them that they can be operating online until their premises are back in action”

“We have a team of web and technical specialists who can help you to design, create, manage and promote your online business.”

“When you are selling your products online, both you and your customers need to know how and when your products will be dispatched and delivered.

“You need to keep data for payments, stock, packing, transportation and/or postage, and if there’s a problem, you need to be able to investigate issues and find the right answer quickly. That’s what we can do for our clients.”

Bill Smith, the owner of Windermere-based Let’s Talk Shop and man behind the popular Shop Doctor events, is currently working with a number of local authorities in Scotland to help retailers in small towns.

Mr Smith believes that internet shopping is now too important for high street retailer to avoid adding that the retail landscape has changed forever.

Mr Smith said: “The inexorable rise of internet shopping has had a major impact on shopping habits, of course, and it’s impossible to divorce high street retailing from online operations.

“Creating an implementable and easily managed online presence should be an objective of any retailer; creating a platform from which online selling can be efficiently delivered is essential for those who seek to develop their marketplace and drive onward viability.