A devastating fire has left an Aberdeen florist facing massive financial losses and an uncertain future.
Wholesale florist J van Vliet was forced to close after a massive blaze at a nearby garage spread and damaged a large part of the roof.
General manager Paul McBain has revealed more than £80,000 of stock, including £20,000 of flowers, were destroyed at the Ardarroch Road firm.
The business has been forced to relocate its operations to its Scottish headquarters in Perth, with it facing losses of around £5,000 each week.
And fears have been raised the florist may never be able to reopen.
‘Business might not reopen’
The Aberdeen warehouse supplies fresh flowers to around 50 florists across the north-east.
Paul, who has been general manager for seven years, said: “The fire destroyed a large portion of the roof and has made it unusable.
“Flower wise, we probably lost around £20,000 worth. But then sundries as well, you’d be looking at an extra £60,000.
“That’s not even including the computer equipment and monitors. It’s been a big, big loss.
“We’ve been told it could be up to a year or two to get back in the building but we’ve obviously got the option of trying to find a temporary base up here.
“At some point, the business might not be viable to reopen in Aberdeen.
“They might just decide to move it to Perth and then that could be all of us out of work. We just don’t know what’s really going to happen. ”
£5,000 a week loss for J van Vliet
At the moment the seven employees, including Paul, are having to drive to Perth leaving Aberdeen at 3.30am to collect stock and then drive back to make deliveries.
Paul said: “We didn’t have time to plan for anything so had to move our operation down to the Perth branch.
“We drive down in the morning, pick up our orders, load up the van and drive all the way back up again.
“We did have some customers who would come in and collect but now we are having to deliver to absolutely everyone.
“It’s putting extra pressure on us.
“With the money also being lost from walk-ins, it could easily be costing us £2,000 to £5,000 a week.
“A busy period like Valentine’s week, it could cost us £10,000.”
Cause of garage fire
The fire broke out within the building of Stag Motors and Pittodrie Car Stadium last month.
Police evacuated scores of nearby homes amid fears the fire could spread or residents might be affected by smoke.
The new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service investigation report said the main cause of the fire was a fault in a diesel heater and it began accidentally.
The blaze began in the shop room/showroom/display hall, the report said.
It added that the items that ignited first were structural fixtures and fittings and that petrol and oil products spread the fire “rapidly”.
Paul said: “Everybody is absolutely gutted.
“I’ve known the guys at the garage for about 15 years and I’m absolutely devastated for them at losing it.
“With the knock-on effect it’s quite concerning for everyone.”
Conversation