That's the message from the director general of the British Chamber of Commerce following a trip to the city to witness for himself the havoc, misery and soaring costs suffered by Sheffield businesses after the floods.

David Frost first met up with Sheffield Chamber of Commerce chief executive Nigel Tomlinson for a briefing meeting with Sheffield City Council chief executive Sir Robert Kerslake before he was escorted around some of the businesses affected by the severe weather by the chamber's head of business development Paul Reeves and company secretary Stephen Mitchell.

His tour took in visits to SYAC (South Yorkshire African Caribbean Business and Enterprise Training Centre), Atkinson-Walker (Saws) Ltd, Mercedes-Benz of Sheffield JCT600 Showroom, Close Credit Management and Meadowhall Shopping Centre where he heard stories not only of ruined stock and machinery but also of the fighting spirit of the business community and courageous and plucky staff.

He commented on the resilience and determination of the smaller businesses in particular, and expressed his sincere hope that they would recover. SYAC was still without power at the time of Mr Frost's visit and centre manager Tom Brooke explained to the BCC chief that one unit alone at the centre had lost stock estimated at hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Chris Walker, director at another smaller company - independent engineering firm Atkinson-Walker - paid tribute to his 22 employees who had encouraged him to carry on the business despite 12,000 litres of sludge being pumped out of his saw production firm in Kelham Island, electricity being wiped out and flood damaged machines.  

Speaking after his trip Mr Frost said: "The nation has, of course, been aware of what has happened to Sheffield thanks to the television coverage but the damage is far greater than the photos in the media and the television footage managed to portray. This trip has really opened my eyes to the sheer scale.

"The message I will be taking back to London with me is the importance of the situation here in Sheffield. Despite other worthy and high priority stories currently in the news, the floods in Sheffield must not be forgotten because people and businesses here are still feeling the consequences and will continue to do so not just for the next few days but, in some cases, for the next few months.

"Small businesses in particular are going to need some form of intensive support. What has been encouraging is how quickly Sheffield Chamber managed to begin supporting the business community once again despite being directly hit by the floods as a business itself, but it is also pleasing to see organisations like the chamber, Creative Sheffield and Yorkshire Forward working together with the local authority to help minimise suffering and offer pro-active support.

"I have been really heartened by the strength of the business community here - they are working together and determined to carry on.

"There also needs to be an understanding in business communities not just here in Yorkshire but throughout the UK that, while this was a one in two hundred years occurrence, it could happen again and this type of freak weather could hit anywhere. It underlines the need for effective contingency, disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

"The role of the BCC is to remind central government of the situation in Sheffield - and the importance of retaining as many businesses as possible here in the city."

Chief executive at Close Credit Management Steve Baker praised some of his employees who, unable to travel to work by train or car the day after the floods, instead got on bicycles in order to help with the clean up operation.

Meadowhall centre director Mohammed Dajani took Mr Frost around the centre where a total of 120 shops were able to re-open this week and brand manager David Bamford at Mercedes-Benz showed the BCC chief some of the 130 flood damaged vehicles the Mercedes showroom has been forced to write off.

The chamber's Paul Reeves added: "The message from the chamber after this visit is clear - while Sheffield may need financial assistance in the short term in the form of loans to get us through this time, we need to do as much as we possibly can to protect the smaller businesses in particular that have provided traditional manufacturing to Sheffield.

"We all have a duty to assist Sheffield firms in trying to recover as quickly as possible; hopefully with assistance from the Chamber, BCC and our key agency partners, it is here where the city can receive a helping hand."