Asos suspends website after warehouse fire
Asos, the online retailer, was forced to suspend its website on Saturday, after a fire at its main warehouse in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
“In order not to disappoint our customers we have temporality stopped taking orders, Asos said. “When we have clarity on the situation, we will issue a further statement.”
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said the blaze at Park Spring Road, Barnsley, started at about 10pm on Friday night.
“At its height, the fire was tackled by 10 fire engines, an aerial ladder platform and a High Volume Pump. The warehouse was more than 60,000 square metres in size. The fire involved several floors of the building and fire crews worked hard to quickly bring the blaze under control,” the service said.
It added that the fire, which took over 60 firefighters to bring under control, was thought to have broken out on the second floor of the five storey building, before spreading to the third and fourth floors.
By Saturday morning, the blaze had been put out, with one fire engine remaining to ensure that no “hotspots” reignited.
An investigation into the cause of the fire was expected to begin later on Saturday.
The fire at the Barnsley sight comes at a delicate time for Asos, which issued a severe profit warning earlier this month, after it was hit by the strength of sterling and heavy discounting.
Asos warned in early May, that pre-tax profit this year would be about 30 per cent lower than expected, after it suffered a “triple whammy of the perfect storm on profit”.
But some rivals and analysts suggest there are fundamental changes in the online market, with bricks and mortar retailers becoming more assertive in their web operations.
It is not the first time that Asos has suffered damage to one of its distribution facilities. In December 2005, its then only warehouse was badly damaged by the explosion and fire at the Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead.
Asos also suspended its site after this disaster, which Nick Robertson, chief executive, told the FT at the time was the worst thing that could happen to an online retailer.
Asos also suspended its shares after the Buncefield blast, and began refunding customers whose orders could not be delivered.