Round-up │ 14 February 2014

In Briefing pages: (Corporate) Improving outlook reverses bad fortunes for steel contractor Severfield-Rowen │ (Industrial and political) All right for some: demand soars for waterproofing materials in wake of floods ... but end of the road for the "hopelessly outdated" sandbag │ (Forthcoming events) (Next Wednesday) Galliford Try, H1 results; (Friday) HMRC Property Transactions.

Quote of the day: "I hate [sandbags] with a vengeance. They do nothing but filter water", Mary Dhonau, chairwoman, Flood Protection Association