Member Article

£22 million worth of Asos stock lost in deliberate Barnsley warehouse fire

An estimated £22.2 million worth of stock was lost during the Asos fire on Friday 20 June at its Barnsley distribution centre.

Barnsley is the centre of Asos’ UK distribution capability and subsequently suspended taking orders. At May 31 2014 the business held £159 million of stock at cost, of which around 70% is held at Barnsley.

Their initial estimate is that approximately 20% of the total stock at the site was compromised by fire damage and the sprinkler systems, comprising of £22 million.

The firm said: “Thanks to swift action by our team at the site, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and our security systems, we are very grateful there were no injuries.

“None of the technology, automation or structure of the building has been affected by the fire. The clean-up process commenced on Saturday morning and progressed quickly.

“Consequently at 2am this morning we recommenced taking orders. We are fully insured for loss of stock and business interruption.

“We have been advised by the South Yorkshire Police that after initial investigations, they are treating the incident as deliberate and have commenced a criminal enquiry. We are cooperating fully with this investigation.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .