South Wales pet treats distributor JR Pet Products is trading as normal again following a huge fire that destroyed two of the company’s warehouses over the weekend.
The blaze, which started at around 6am on Sunday (September 18), completely gutted two business units in Llandovery used for storage and packing, resulting in the loss of more than 900 pallets of stock worth over £1million.
Nobody was injured in the fire, and a third warehouse in the town, plus the company’s new distribution centre in nearby Brecon, were unaffected, meaning that JR still has sufficient stock and capability to fulfil customer orders.
Sales director Becky Davies said: “Naturally this will have an impact on our operations, but our disaster recovery plan is fully underway and we were ‘business as normal’ – or as close to as possible! – within 48 hours. We have stock in other locations and predict minimal out of stocks and little to no disruption in our turnaround times. We fully intend to come to PATS (in Telford) and are very much looking forward to seeing you all…. we will not be defeated!”
Five fire crews from the surrounding area were called to the blaze which was only finally extinguished on Tuesday (September 20). Nearby homes were evacuated, and much of the Carmarthenshire town was covered in ash. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Company directors Jonathan and Becky Davies and Stephen Tandy paid tribute to the “truly incredible” fire crews, including one firefighter who climbed into a burning 18-tonne lorry to move it to a safe place during the height of the blaze.
The directors also thanked members of staff who came in to help even on the day of the Queen’s funeral, suppliers who have continued to support the firm, and members of the local community who rallied round – one local business has lent the firm a fork truck so that it can carry on warehouse operations. The company has also received “thousands” of messages of support from across the pet trade.
A company statement added: “We would like to publicly reassure our 50+ colleagues that there is no risk of any job losses due to the fire and the business remains in a strong trading position. We cannot thank our team enough for the ‘we will not be defeated attitude’ in dealing with the fall outof the fire, we are blessed to be working with them.
“Thank you so much to all of you who have sent such wonderful and supportive messages to us, it means so much.”
