Cost of blaze at Findus factory put at £20m
Jan 10 2009 by Sam Wood, The Journal
DAMAGE caused after a fire at the Findus foods factory in North Tyneside could run to more than £20m and could take months to put right, the company said yesterday.
All production at the site has been stopped, after smoke and soot contaminated those areas which weren’t damaged by fire, and redundancies as a result of the blaze at the Longbenton plant have not been ruled out.
The cause of the fire on Tuesday is still unknown but a 3,000 square metre section of the factory, which employs 400 people, has been completely destroyed.
The entire factory has to be cleaned before production can start up again.
Vidar Engen, managing director of the company, showed The Journal around the site.
A smell of smoke still lingers across the whole plant and a thick layer of soot covers everything. No one is allowed in without special masks and suits.
As our pictures show, the scene of the blaze is one of devastation.
The fire was so strong it brought down huge parts of the roof and melted wiring into the floor.
Mr Engen said: “The first thing to say is that no one was injured and that is a great relief. There were only 50 people in there when the fire started, usually there are about 300, so this could have been a lot worse.
“The damage was far worse than we first thought. I was very emotional as I walked around the site for the first time.
“It’s Armageddon down there, it’s worse than the Titanic.
“The entire section of the factory in which we make crispy pancakes has been destroyed. We don’t even know if that part of the factory is safe to go in, it still needs to be checked.
“Production has been stopped throughout the factory because the soot got into the ventilation system and is everywhere in the factory.
“We have very high standards of cleanliness and we will be cleaning everything with a toothbrush to get it right.
“It will be at least two to three weeks before everything is cleaned and we can begin some production again. It is impossible to say how long it will take to get the crispy pancake section up and running again. Everything will have to be replaced and that will take time. It will be months at least before that section is back running again.
“There was millions of pounds worth of equipment in there with the ovens and everything else and they were all destroyed, we could be looking at least £20m. Hopefully the insurance will cover most of the cost.
“We are being very honest about what is going on with our workers.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of redundancies, but we will do our best to keep people on.”
There will be a meeting between Findus management and the workers on Monday.
