Fire destroyed family business

Posted by The Journal on Nov 23, 08 04:23 PM in News

A family-run business was left in ruins after its warehouse containing about £2m worth of goods was gutted in a massive fire.

Seven fire crews - one using an aerial ladder platform - tackled the fierce blaze which wrecked the operational HQ of motor product supplier Randstad Ltd on the Nelson industrial estate in Cramlington, Northumberland.

The blaze sent flames shooting through the roof of the warehouse, sales and office complex, and a massive plume of thick, black smoke could be seen from miles away.

Police cordoned off the scene and sealed off nearby roads because of the amount of smoke billowing from the premises after the fire broke out yesterday afternoon.

The company's 40 employees were safely evacuated from the building before it was engulfed by the blaze which is thought to have started in a waste shredding machine.

They stood and watched along with Randstad Ltd sales director Phillip Dowd as firefighters rained water down on the warehouse in a bid to bring the flames under control.

Earlier Mr Dowd and two colleagues had used fire extinguishers in a vain bid to prevent the fire from taking hold.

Randstad Ltd was set up by Mr Dowd's father, Tony, in a shop in Whitley Bay 35 years ago and moved to Cramlington five years later. It invested £1m in moving to its current site in 2004. It supplies products to the automotive industry.

Last night, Phillip Dowd said it had been a terrible day for everyone involved with the company.

"This is a 35-year-old, family-run company and we are just having to stand here and watch it go up in smoke. We have a shredder for waste in a corner of the building and that caught fire for some reason this afternoon. I can only assume it was an electrical fault.

"Myself and two guys from the warehouse used every fire extinguisher we could find to try to contain it. However, we eventually ran out of extinguishers and the fire just took off. The fire guys have basically told me the building has gone and there is about £2m worth of products in there.

"We are going to have to take stock and relocate, but we will be back."

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