The carpet was absolutely sopping, and the damp patch was literally growing before our eyes, and the people working on the floor below us were getting wet from water dripping through the ceiling.

A flurry of activity ensued, with contractors everywhere, and cries of wonder and bewilderment. We’re assured it’s being sorted.

Our office is a later addition to the building, and an outside drainage gully which normally copes fine with wet weather conditions couldn’t drain fast enough, today, and so the water decided to escape indoors.

It must have happened last weekend too, when the office was empty, as my shoes were wet, and my bag was soaked by the end of last Monday, soaking the contents inside. But, because the floor looked dry, we thought nothing of it.

Masks and snorkels at the ready.

(My coffee cup is in shot as it was made out of a cardboard, with a bobbly surface on the outside to prevent burning. It went into the paper recycling bin, naturally.)

The BAPLA Picture Buyers’ Fair today.

A magazine uses a lot of bought-in images, and it was with an intention to broaden our picture library contacts, that we zizzed up to Islington, and to the Business Design Centre to see what were the latest trends in imagery.

There were around 144 stands, and every company vied for our attention, and had creative ways of being remembered when it next came to searching for that elusive feature, news, or abstract image.

There were enough pens to dry out the world’s ink wells, and enough sweets to add a non-too discernible number to the UK’s obese population. Add these to the seemingly endless amounts of branded bags, mouse mats, notebooks and postcards, and the tat mountain was certainly a high one to climb.

We didn’t do too badly, but came way a lot lighter than a lot of the creative types in attendance. Lonely Planet gave us a nice leather bound notebook, while Masterfile let us take catalogues, an extendable rule, a cute fridge magnet that makes a ‘ding-dong’ doorbell noise, and entered us into their competition to win an iPod Shuffle.

Upon leaving, we realised that we had been a regular client, buying more than a handful of images from them every month. If I’d have thought about that earlier, I could have been the owner of one of their bright white and red branded record bags.

I was stupidly pleased with my SuperStock frisbee though, ideal for those long summer picnics in the park.

We thought the best stand was that of the Mary Evans Picture Library, who had kitted theirs out to resemble an old Victorian sweet shop, and is where I picked up a small bag of milk bottles, perfectly weighed out on an equally antique set of scales, next to an old metal cash till.

One thing we did notice too, were the number of libraries specialising in very niche markets. If the need is there for images of cute cats and dogs, food, gardens, mothers and babies, and travel destinations, then it could be filled.

Plenty of times over.

Showcasing over 140 image suppliers, the show also runs tomorrow (10 May). Registration can be made here.